What Is an Oregon Advance Directive?
An Oregon advance directive appoints a health care representative and contains instructions for them to follow. Per ORS § 127.505, an advance directive in Oregon also includes any form that the principal attaches to their appointment.
In many cases, an Oregon advance directive is divided into two documents: a health care representative appointment and a living will.
1. Appointment of a Health Care Representative
As part of your Oregon advance directive, you can appoint a health care representative. This person will make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated (ORS § 127.535). They must accept their role, as they will not be forced to fulfill it.
Their authority may include reviewing materials regarding your care and deciding on treatments. They may be able to withdraw you from life-sustaining procedures if they have your explicit permission. An agent cannot consent to convulsive treatment, psychosurgery, sterilization, or abortion (ORS § 127.540).
If a situation arises and you haven’t dictated your preferences for it, your health care representative must act in good faith. They should evaluate your other wishes, values, and beliefs to make an informed decision.
Serving as someone’s health care representative in Oregon does not make them responsible for the principal’s medical expenses.
Selecting a Health Care Representative in Oregon
Your health care representative in Oregon must be a competent adult. Ideally, it will be someone you trust to make rational decisions in stressful situations.
Under ORS § 127.520, a health care representative, in general, cannot be any of the following individuals:
- Certain treating medical providers (if they are not related to the principal)
- Facility staff where the principal lives or receives care
- Parents/guardians deemed unfit by court order
- Anyone the principal disqualified in writing
- Anyone removed by a court
If you don’t name a health care representative, ORS § 127.635 dictates who makes decisions for you:
- A guardian of the principal who is authorized to make health care decisions, if any;
- The principal’s spouse
- An adult designated by the others listed in this subsection who can be so located, if no person listed in this subsection objects to the designation
- A majority of the adult children of the principal who can be so located
- Either parent of the principal
- A majority of the adult siblings of the principal who can be located with reasonable effort
- Any adult relative or adult friend
This order may not reflect your preferences, so it’s important to appoint someone while you’re capable of doing so.
2. Living Will
The other aspect of an Oregon advance directive is a living will, which is outlined in ORS § 127.529. A living will lets you outline your care preferences if you become terminally ill, develop an advanced progressive illness, or become permanently unconscious. For each situation, you can dictate whether you want:
- Full treatment (such as artificial feeding and hydration with feeding tubes, IV fluids, kidney dialysis, and a breathing machine)
- Partial treatment (e.g., artificial feeding and hydration but nothing else)
- Comfort care only
- Allowing your representative to decide based on conversations with your health care providers
In addition to outlining your care preferences, you can also express your wishes, values, and spiritual beliefs. These factors help guide your representative if they have to make a decision regarding your care that you haven’t discussed in your living will.
If you want to outline mental health treatment preferences, you can do so as a competent adult under ORS § 127.702. You can use the state’s Declaration of Mental Health Treatment Form to get started.
POLST vs. Advance Directive in Oregon
Portable Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is different from an advance directive in Oregon. POLST (under ORS § 127.663) is a medical order for those with a serious illness. Meanwhile, an advance directive is for any competent individual over 18 to complete to dictate future care.
Signing Requirements for an Oregon Advance Directive
Two witnesses or a notary public must acknowledge the principal’s signing of an Oregon advance directive (ORS § 127.515). If you choose to get a notary public’s acknowledgment, you can use our Oregon notary acknowledgment form.
If you choose the witness route, the following conditions must be met:
- The witnesses must see you sign the document or confirm that the signature is yours.
- Your attending physician, health care provider, or the person you name as your health care representative (or alternate) cannot serve as a witness.
- If you sign the form while living in a long-term care facility, one witness must be a qualified individual designated by the facility.
Once you sign the form and follow the notarization or witness requirements, it will go into effect. You don’t need to record it with any governing body. Instead, distribute copies to your health care providers so they have your instructions on file.
Revoking an Oregon Advance Directive
ORS § 127.545 allows you to revoke an Oregon advance directive at any time. You can use Legal Templates’s Oregon revocation of power of attorney form to revoke the representative element. Be sure to communicate your decision with your health care provider and your chosen representative.
If you execute a new Oregon advance directive with updated instructions, you will automatically invalidate the old one.
Sample Oregon Advance Directive
View an example of a fillable Oregon advance directive. By reviewing this form, you can see how to structure your living will and the nomination of your representative. Create your own with Legal Templates’s guided form, then download copies in PDF or Word format.
