Living Will & Healthcare Proxy Attorney in NY & NJ

The Healthcare Proxy — Your Voice When You Can't Speak

A healthcare proxy is the most important advance directive for most adults. It designates a trusted person — your "agent" or "proxy" — to make all medical decisions on your behalf if you are determined to lack decision-making capacity. This includes decisions about surgery, medication, hospitalization, life support, and end-of-life care. Your agent's authority is broad and legally enforceable in New York hospitals, nursing facilities, and other care settings.

Choosing the right agent is critical. Your agent should be someone who knows your values, can handle pressure in a medical setting, and will advocate firmly for your wishes even when other family members disagree. Under New York law, your agent cannot be a treating healthcare provider, an operator of a healthcare facility where you receive care, or an employee of either — to prevent conflicts of interest. Most people choose a spouse, adult child, or close friend, and name a successor agent in case the first is unavailable.

The Living Will — Documenting Specific Instructions

A living will documents your specific wishes about medical treatment in defined circumstances — typically a terminal condition, a permanent unconscious state, or a medical condition from which there is no reasonable expectation of recovery. Common provisions address cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition and hydration, dialysis, and comfort/palliative care. The more specific your living will, the less burden you place on your agent and the less room there is for family disagreement.

New York does not have a formal living will statute, but New York courts and healthcare providers consistently honor them under common law principles and the constitutional right to refuse treatment. When you combine a living will with a healthcare proxy, you give your agent both the authority to act and the specific guidance to act according to your wishes — the strongest combination possible.

MOLST, POLST, and DNR Orders in New York

A MOLST (Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) is a physician-signed medical order used for patients with serious, advanced illness or frailty who need immediate, portable instructions about their care. Unlike a healthcare proxy or living will — which are planning documents — a MOLST is an active medical order that healthcare providers are required to follow. It travels with the patient from hospital to nursing facility to home and is entered into the medical record at each care setting.

A DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order is a specific instruction not to perform CPR if a patient's heart stops or breathing ceases. In New York, a DNR can be part of a MOLST or stand alone as a separate physician order. Our attorneys help clients understand when a MOLST or DNR is appropriate and how to coordinate these medical orders with their broader advance directive documents.

New York vs. New Jersey — Key Differences

New York's advance directive system separates the healthcare proxy (agent designation) from the living will (specific instructions). New Jersey, by contrast, uses a single "Advance Directive for Health Care" document that can combine both functions. New Jersey's combined directive must be signed before two witnesses or a notary. If you live or receive healthcare in both states, it is worth having documents that satisfy both states' requirements — our attorneys routinely prepare cross-state advance directive packages for clients in the New York metro area. See our estate planning page for more on comprehensive planning across both states.

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