Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements in New York

At a glance

New York keeps the health care power of attorney simple and standalone. The document is called a health care proxy, and it does one thing: it names another adult (your health care agent) to make medical decisions for you if a doctor later finds you cannot make them yourself. New York has no separate "living will" statute, so any treatment wishes you want to record go inside the proxy itself (or are proven later under common law). The rules live in the Public Health Law, Article 29-C, "Health Care Agents and Proxies," at §§ 2980–2990.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

There is one instrument. Under § 2981(1), "A competent adult may appoint a health care agent in accordance with the terms of this article," and a "health care proxy" is defined in § 2980(8) as "a document delegating the authority to make health care decisions, executed in accordance with the requirements of this article." New York publishes an optional form: § 2981(5)(d) says a proxy "may, but need not, be in the following form." You are free to use your own wording as long as it identifies you and the agent and shows you intend the agent to make health care decisions for you (§ 2981(5)(a)).

Who can sign

The signer must be a competent adult, and "adult" is broader than 18: under § 2980(1) it means "any person who is eighteen years of age or older, or is the parent of a child, or has married." Every adult is "presumed competent" to appoint an agent unless a court has ruled otherwise or a guardian has been appointed (§ 2981(1)(b)). If you physically cannot sign, § 2981(2)(a) lets "[a]nother person" sign and date the proxy for you — but only "at the adult's direction and in the adult's presence," and in front of the two witnesses.

Witnesses or notary

This is where New York differs sharply from states like California and Texas: it uses two witnesses and offers no notary option at all. Section 2981(2)(a) requires the proxy to be "signed and dated by the adult in the presence of two adult witnesses who shall also sign the proxy," and those witnesses "shall state that the principal appeared to execute the proxy willingly and free from duress." There is no "notary OR witnesses" choice here — notarization neither substitutes for nor is required in addition to the two witnesses.

Since 2022, either or both witnesses may act remotely. Section 2981(2-a) allows "audio-video technology" witnessing if the principal shows valid photo ID to a remote witness, the video allows direct interaction, the witness receives a legible copy within 24 hours, and the witness signs and returns it.

Who can't witness or serve

The one hard witness bar is the agent: "[t]he person appointed as agent shall not act as witness to execution of the health care proxy" (§ 2981(2)(a)). New York does not otherwise disqualify your doctor or a relative from witnessing (unlike several states), though residents of a mental hygiene facility face extra witness-qualification rules under § 2981(2)(b)–(c).

On who may serve as agent, § 2981(3)(a) bars "[a]n operator, administrator or employee of a hospital" from being appointed by a person who is that hospital's patient, resident, or applicant — unless that person is related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, or is a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner subject to the limits in § 2981(3)(b)–(c). A separate rule caps a non-relative at serving as agent for ten principals at once (§ 2981(3)(d)).

When the agent can act

New York is springing only — there is no box to make the proxy effective immediately. Under § 2981(4), "[t]he agent's authority shall commence upon a determination ... that the principal lacks capacity to make health care decisions," and that determination is made by your attending practitioner under § 2983. If the incapacity is attributed to mental illness, the attending practitioner "must be, or must consult ... with a qualified psychiatrist" (§ 2983(1)(b)). If you later regain capacity, the agent's authority "shall cease, but shall recommence" if you lose it again (§ 2983(7)).

Agent's powers and limits

Once the authority commences, § 2982(1) gives your agent "the authority to make any and all health care decisions on the principal's behalf that the principal could make," subject to any limits you write in and to § 2989(3). New York's signature restriction concerns artificial nutrition and hydration (tube feeding and IV fluids): under § 2982(2), if "the principal's wishes regarding the administration of artificial nutrition and hydration are not reasonably known and cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained, the agent shall not have the authority to make decisions regarding these measures." The optional statutory form warns about exactly this: "Unless your agent knows your wishes about artificial nutrition and hydration, your agent will not have authority to decide" about them (§ 2981(5)(d)).

How to revoke

Revocation is easy and informal. Section 2985(1)(a) lets a competent adult revoke "by notifying the agent or a health care provider orally or in writing or by any other act evidencing a specific intent to revoke the proxy." Signing a new proxy also revokes the old one (§ 2985(1)(c)). And § 2985(1)(e) revokes a spouse-agent automatically "upon the divorce or legal separation of the principal and spouse, unless the principal specifies otherwise."

Out-of-state directives

If you executed a proxy elsewhere, § 2990 honors it: "[a] health care proxy or similar instrument executed in another state or jurisdiction in compliance with the law of that state or jurisdiction shall be considered validly executed for purposes of this article."

What trips people up

• A notary does nothing here — you need two witnesses. New York is one of the states with no notary option. Getting a proxy notarized but signed by only one witness (or none) does not make it valid; two adult witnesses are the requirement (§ 2981(2)(a)).
• Your agent cannot be a witness. The single most common execution mistake is letting the person you are naming sign as one of the two witnesses. The statute forbids it outright (§ 2981(2)(a)); use two other adults.
• Tube feeding is a special case. Even a validly appointed agent has no authority over artificial nutrition and hydration unless your wishes on that point are reasonably known (§ 2982(2)). If you have a view, state it in the proxy — the standard form has a line for it.
• There is no "effective now" option. Some people want their spouse to handle medical calls even while they are competent. A New York proxy cannot do that; it activates only when a physician finds you lack capacity (§ 2981(4)). A financial power of attorney is the separate document for present-tense authority.
• Divorce cancels a spouse-agent. A later divorce or even a legal separation revokes your spouse's appointment automatically unless the proxy says otherwise (§ 2985(1)(e)); sign a new one if you still want that person.

Common questions

Do I have to use the state's health care proxy form? No. The statutory form is optional — the proxy "may, but need not, be in the following form" (§ 2981(5)(d)). Any writing works if it names your agent, shows you want the agent to make health care decisions, and is signed and witnessed correctly.

Can I name my doctor as my health care agent? Sometimes. New York does not flatly bar a physician from serving. The bar is on a hospital's operator, administrator, or employee serving as agent for that hospital's patient (§ 2981(3)(a)), and a physician-agent cannot keep acting as your attending practitioner once the proxy is in effect unless they decline the agent role (§ 2981(3)(c)).

What happens if I never sign a proxy? New York's Family Health Care Decisions Act supplies a ranked list of surrogates (spouse, adult child, parent, and so on) who can decide for you in a hospital or nursing home. A proxy lets you pick the person yourself and outranks that default list.

Can the whole thing be done over video? Yes, for the witnessing. Since 2022, one or both witnesses may participate by audio-video technology if the identification, live-interaction, 24-hour-copy, and return-signature conditions in § 2981(2-a) are met.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2980 — definitions ("adult," "capacity to make health care decisions," "health care proxy"). https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2980 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2981 — appointment and execution: two adult witnesses, agent may not witness, remote witnessing, restrictions on who may serve as agent, commencement of authority, optional form. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2981 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2982 — agent's scope of authority and the artificial nutrition and hydration limit. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2982 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2983 — determination of lack of capacity (attending practitioner; qualified psychiatrist for mental illness; recovery). https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2983 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2985 — revocation, including automatic revocation on divorce or legal separation of a spouse-agent. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2985 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2989 — an agent cannot consent to an act or omission to which the principal could not legally consent. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2989 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2990 — recognition of a proxy executed in another state. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2990 (accessed 2026-08-08)
• NY A 721 / S 6687 (2025-2026) — pending same-as bills that would reduce the ordinary witness count and add health care proxies to the second-degree forgery statute. Official A 721 text and history and official S 6687 history (checked September 19, 2026).