Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements in Michigan
At a glance
| Governing law & document | Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL §§ 700.5506–700.5515, patient advocate designation. No statutory short form; the designation must contain the required springing-language and the advocate must sign a statutory acceptance before acting (§§ 700.5506(3), 700.5507(4)–(5)). |
|---|---|
| Who can sign | A person age 18+ who is of sound mind signs a written, dated designation voluntarily; it must be placed in the medical record before implementation (§ 700.5506(1), (3)). The advocate must also be an individual age 18+ (§ 700.5506(1)). |
| Witnesses or notary | Two witnesses must be present and sign (§ 700.5506(4)). The execution statute provides no notary alternative. The expired remote-witness rule in § 700.1202 applied only to documents executed from 2020-04-30 through 2021-06-30. |
| Who can't witness or serve | A witness cannot be the spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, presumptive heir, known devisee, physician, patient advocate, or specified employee of an insurer, treating facility, home for the aged, or mental-health program/hospital (§ 700.5506(4)). The statute otherwise requires the advocate to be an individual age 18+ (§ 700.5506(1)). |
| When the agent can act | Springing only: for medical decisions, the attending physician plus another physician or licensed psychologist must examine the patient, determine inability to participate, put it in writing and the medical record, and review at least annually (§ 700.5508(1)). Authority suspends if ability returns and can restart after a later determination (§ 700.5509(2)). |
| Agent's powers & limits | The document may grant one or more care, custody, medical-treatment, mental-health-treatment, and anatomical-gift powers the patient could exercise (§ 700.5507(1)). Allowing death requires clear-and-convincing authorization; no withdrawing treatment that would cause a pregnant patient's death; forced medication or inpatient mental-health treatment also needs clear-and-convincing authorization (§ 700.5509(1)(d)–(e), (h)). |
| How to revoke | Except for a permitted mental-health waiver, the patient may revoke at any time and by any communication even after losing decision-making ability; an unwritten revocation must be documented by a witness (§§ 700.5510(1)(d), 700.5515(1)). A later designation revokes by express terms or inconsistency. A spouse-agent is suspended when a separation, annulment, or divorce case begins and revoked at judgment unless a successor is named (§ 700.5510(1)(e), (g)). |
| Out-of-state directives | No express out-of-state-recognition clause appears in EPIC Part 5's current list of patient-advocate sections (§§ 700.5506–700.5520). Current law therefore does not supply a simple statutory safe harbor comparable to states that expressly validate a document under the execution law of another jurisdiction. |
Michigan calls its health care power of attorney a patient advocate designation. The signer is the patient, and the appointed decision-maker is the patient advocate. The rules are in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code, principally §§ 700.5506 through 700.5515.
Requirements one by one
The patient signs; the advocate separately accepts
Under § 700.5506(1), an adult who is of sound mind may appoint another adult. Section 700.5506(3) requires a written, signed, dated, voluntary designation. Before it is implemented, the document must be placed in the applicable medical record.
Naming the advocate is not the last signature step. Before acting, the proposed advocate must receive a copy and sign an acceptance containing substantially the statutory statements listed in § 700.5507(4)–(5).
Two witnesses are required; the statute has no notary alternative
Section 700.5506(4) says the designation must be "executed in the presence of and signed by 2 witnesses." The execution section does not provide a witnesses-or-notary choice.
Michigan briefly allowed two-way audiovisual witnessing for documents executed from April 30, 2020 through June 30, 2021. The current § 700.1202(1), (4) expressly limits that procedure to that past window, so it is not a current remote-signing route.
The witness-disqualification list is broad
Neither witness may be the patient's spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, presumptive heir, known devisee, physician, or patient advocate. Section 700.5506(4) also excludes the listed employees of the patient's life or health insurer, treating facility, home for the aged, or mental-health program or hospital. Each witness signs only if the patient appears of sound mind and free of duress, fraud, and undue influence.
Two professionals make the medical-capacity finding
For medical decisions, § 700.5508(1) requires the attending physician and another physician or licensed psychologist to examine the patient and determine that the patient cannot participate in treatment decisions. They must put the finding in writing, add it to the medical record, and review it at least once a year. Mental-health decision-making uses the separate § 700.5515 procedure.
If the patient regains the ability to participate, the advocate's authority is suspended. It can restart after a later qualifying determination (§ 700.5509(2)).
End-of-life and mental-health powers need explicit language
The designation may authorize any of the listed care, custody, medical, mental-health, and anatomical-gift powers that the patient could exercise (§ 700.5507(1)). The advocate must take reasonable steps to follow the patient's known desires and instructions (§ 700.5509(1)(b)).
Several decisions have a higher bar. The advocate may withhold or withdraw treatment that would allow death only if the patient clearly and convincingly authorized that decision and acknowledged its consequence. Forced medication or inpatient mental-health treatment likewise requires clear-and-convincing authorization. Current law also bars a decision to withdraw treatment from a pregnant patient if that would cause the patient's death (§ 700.5509(1)(d)–(e), (h)).
Revocation is broad, with a mental-health exception
Even after losing the ability to participate in medical decisions, the patient may revoke in any manner that communicates the intent. If the revocation is not written, a witness must describe and sign the circumstances in writing (§ 700.5510(1)(d)). A later inconsistent designation also revokes the earlier one.
For mental-health authority, the document may contain a limited waiver of the right to revoke. Even then, § 700.5515(1) caps continued treatment after the patient communicates revocation at 30 consecutive days.
A spouse-agent is suspended as soon as an action for separate maintenance, annulment, or divorce is pending and is revoked when judgment enters, unless a successor is named (§ 700.5510(1)(g)).
Part 5 has no express out-of-state safe harbor
The current official Part 5 index lists the patient-advocate provisions from § 700.5506 through § 700.5520, but none is an out-of-state-execution recognition section. That is narrower than statutes that expressly validate any directive valid where signed. Pending HB 4418's proposed § 700.5602(2)(b), (4) would expressly account for an out-of-state equivalent when determining whether a default surrogate may act, but it has not been enacted.
What trips people up
- The advocate must sign an acceptance. The patient's witnessed signature alone does not authorize the named person to begin acting (§ 700.5507(4)).
- A notary does not replace either witness. The current execution section specifies two witnesses and contains no notary alternative.
- The capacity finding is not a one-professional formality. Medical authority requires the attending physician plus another physician or licensed psychologist, with a written record and annual review.
- A divorce case matters before judgment. A spouse-agent's authority is suspended while the case is pending, not only after divorce is final.
Common questions
Can a Michigan patient advocate be paid?
Not for serving as advocate. The required acceptance says the advocate receives no compensation, but may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses (§ 700.5507(5)).
Can the advocate delegate decisions to someone else?
Only if the patient gave prior authorization. Section 700.5509(1)(g) otherwise bars the advocate from delegating the granted powers.
Statutes and sources
- Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.1202(1), (4). The expired April 30, 2020 through June 30, 2021 audiovisual-witness route. Official current EPIC PDF (accessed August 8, 2026).
- Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.5506. Execution, witnesses, and witness disqualifications. Official current EPIC PDF (accessed August 8, 2026).
- Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 700.5507–700.5509. Advocate acceptance, authority, incapacity, treatment limits, and suspension on recovery. Official current EPIC PDF (accessed August 8, 2026).
- Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 700.5510 and 700.5515. Revocation, spouse-agent rules, and the limited mental-health waiver. Official current EPIC PDF (accessed August 8, 2026).
- EPIC Part 5 index. Complete current list of patient-advocate provisions; no express out-of-state recognition section. Official current EPIC PDF (accessed August 8, 2026).
- MI SB 33 and HB 4418 (2025-2026). Pending pregnancy-rule and surrogate/out-of-state-equivalent proposals. Official Senate-engrossed SB 33 text, official Senate Substitute S-3 for HB 4418, official SB 33 action page, and official HB 4418 action page (checked September 19, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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