A Minnesota health care directive form helps you communicate your medical preferences in situations where you can’t share them independently. This communication is done either through the agent(s) you assign or the written instructions in your health care directive.

Laws

Statute: Chapter 145C (Health Care Directives)
Signing Requirements: Any health care directive in Minnesota is considered legal as long as it’s in writing, dated, specifies your name, and is signed by you or an authorized representative. The document must contain health care instructions or assign an agent to make health care decisions. Above all, the document must be created when you are considered competent and can state your wishes. Your document must be either notarized or signed by two different witnesses (Section 145C.03).
State Definition: As stated in Section 145C.02, a health care directive is a legal document drafted to ensure that your needs are known even if you cannot communicate them yourself. The terms codified under Minnesota Statutes define health care instructions, act in good faith, health care provider, decision-making capacity, health care agent, principal, or health care decision (Section 145C.01).
Revocation: You can revoke your directive by completing a power of attorney revocation form, destroying it, replacing it, telling at least two other people that you want to cancel it, or declaring that you would like to cancel it (Section 145C.09).
Effective Date: Usually, a health care directive, following Minnesota Statutes Section 145C.06, does not go into effect until a Minnesota-licensed physician states that you are incompetent or unable to make decisions for yourself. At other times, the document will contain language that says when the document should go into effect.

How to Select Your Agent(s)

A health care agent in Minnesota must be at least 18. They must remain calm in a crisis and be unafraid to communicate with the family while advocating on your behalf to doctors and other health care providers.

Furthermore, your agent should be someone who knows you well enough to make the same health care decisions for you that you would make for yourself — if you were able to. This person can be a close friend or relative, but more than anything, this person needs to be trustworthy.

Choosing More than One Agent

You are permitted to have more than one health care agent in Minnesota. If you wish to have two or more agents listed on your health care directive, you can structure your document in two ways:

You can select multiple agents working together to make health care decisions.
You can appoint a primary agent and establish one or more alternate agents. If a primary agent is unable or unwilling to complete their duties, the alternate agent(s) can step in and make the necessary health care decisions on your behalf.

Who You Should Not Name as Your Agent

Per Minnesota Statutes Section 145C.06, Subd. 2, none of your health care providers are allowed to be your health care agent. The only exception is if the provider is a relative through blood, adoption, or marriage. Minnesota also notes that a former spouse or registered domestic partner cannot be a health care agent, even if the last written directive lists that person.

Decisions Your Agent(s) Can Make

Your agent will have certain powers in Minnesota, as stated in Minnesota Statutes Section 145C.07 unless you decide to limit them in writing. These powers include:

Refusing, consenting to, and withdrawing any of your health care or mental health care treatments.
Starting or stopping life-sustaining care.
Choosing health care providers.
Deciding whether or not you will reside in a nursing home or hospice.

Agents automatically have the right to visit you at any health care facility and review your medical records. They can also pass your medical records to others. Your agent may also be given the power to decide if your body parts, such as your eyes, organs, and other tissues, are to be donated and whether you should be cremated or buried.

You cannot request unreasonable treatment outside of standard medical practices via instructions or through your agent. Any instructions about mercy killing or assisted suicide are also strictly forbidden.

Minnesota law states that you can allow your agent to make health care decisions on your behalf even if you can still make decisions for yourself.