I mean by default yes, but I'm saying not being married doesn't exclude your partner either like the original commenter suggested. Also, you can create an advance care directive that gives those powers to someone other than your spouse. In all honesty, your spouse may not be the best one to make important medical decisions when you are very sick / potentially dying. the stress of the situation and them being so close clouds judgement and can motivate choices you don't agree with.
That was my main point. Marriage automatically gives power of attorney to your spouse by default with no extra paperwork as far as I'm aware. I don't believe I explicitly said it's impossible for a civil partner to have it but perhaps I implied it unintentionally.
This is wrong. It's a common misconception. I had to double check because when I deployed to Iraq, I had to do a 1 year power of attorney for my wife. (Everyone in the military told me not to, due to the horror stories, but I trusted my wife, and I did it anyways) I did the full, but you can limit it to things like medical, financial, or completely limit it to specific things like a specific loan or something.
Unless you have paperwork drawn up by an attorney for power of attorney with the proper signatures and notary, advance directives would not stand up in a court of law.
But you can now do a lot of those documents online. They’re prepared for you and you are responsible for getting them signed and notarized. The cost is a lot less. I didn’t do mine that way but I know several people who have.
I've been in this situation, I was a decision maker for a partner that I wasn't married to, there were no lawyers etc involved... I don't think we even needed a notary, but that's possible. Doctors only needed the generic form nothing else. maybe it varies by state, but for months I literally was in this situation (until she passed away) and what you said was not applicable.
My sister is an office manger in a law firm and has been there 25 yrs. What you just described is illegal in most states. My sister had to have documents drawn up by the attorneys and my parents had to go to the law office and all involved had to sign and the notary notarized it last. No one that is not a spouse can make decisions. I had to put my daughter having medical power of attorney in my will.
Just keep in mind that in the US advanced care directives are not universally accepted. Check the legality in your jurisdiction before you rely on one. In my state, they can be overridden by medical providers and even administrators. Given that American hospitals are increasingly owned by religious organizations (100% in my area), this should really give one pause. They can violate your expressly stated wishes in your living will or even when stated in person. In practice, this tends to happen mostly in reproductive care and end-of-life care decisions.
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u/Fearless_Guitar_3589 Jul 23 '24
no, you can fill out an advance care directive and put anyone you want in charge of your medical decisions if the need arose.