Louisiana Healthcare Power of Attorney Requirements
Louisiana is the only civil-law state in the country, and its Civil Code has no statute called a Health Care Power of Attorney.
Introduction
Louisiana is the only civil-law state in the country, and its Civil Code has no statute called a Health Care Power of Attorney. What Louisiana principals actually sign is a mandate, a contract naming your agent, or a procuration if only you sign it, drawn from the general law of mandate in Civil Code Articles 2989 through 3034. Whichever form you use, your agent, called a mandatary, can make health care decisions for you only once you state that authority expressly, under Civil Code Article 2997(6), and only if you are ever unable to make those decisions yourself. This document covers only health care decisions, not money, property, or bills. It also works differently than in many other states. Louisiana law does not require a physician to certify that you are incapacitated before your agent's authority begins, and it does not require your document to be witnessed or notarized to be valid. Once you sign it, it stays in effect through any later incapacity by default, under Civil Code Article 3026, unless you state otherwise yourself. Because there is no state agency form or registry for this document, you keep the signed original yourself and give copies to your agent, your physician, and any alternate agents. This is a different document from Louisiana's Declaration Concerning Life-Sustaining Procedures, the state's living will, and from Louisiana's Durable Power of Attorney, which covers money and property rather than health care.
Key Things to Know
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Because Louisiana has no statute called a Health Care Power of Attorney, this document is legally a mandate, or a procuration if only you sign it, under Civil Code Articles 2989 through 3034, letting you name your agent, called a mandatary, to make health care decisions for you if you become unable to make them yourself.
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Louisiana law does not require your document to be witnessed or notarized. Signing before a notary and two witnesses as an authentic act, under Civil Code Article 1833, is optional and mainly helps show hospitals the document is authentic.
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Your agent's authority does not depend on a physician certifying you as incapacitated. Under Civil Code Article 3026, this document continues in effect through your later incapacity by default, unless you state a different condition yourself.
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Louisiana law does not bar your own physician or a health care facility employee from serving as your agent, unlike some other states. Choose someone you trust, since Louisiana places no restriction on this by default.
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You can revoke this document at any time under Civil Code Article 3025, unless you separately agreed to make it irrevocable. It also ends automatically on your death, your agent's death, your agent's interdiction, or your own interdiction, under Article 3024.
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Louisiana's default medical consent law, Revised Statutes 40:1159.4, ranks an agent acting under a valid health care mandate above your spouse, adult children, and other relatives when a physician needs consent for treatment.
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Louisiana has no state registry for this document. The Secretary of State's registry under Revised Statutes 40:1151.2 is for a different document, the Declaration Concerning Life-Sustaining Procedures, not for this Health Care Power of Attorney.
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This is a different document from Louisiana's Durable Power of Attorney, which covers property and financial decisions rather than health care.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Healthcare Power of Attorney in Louisiana, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Healthcare Power of Attorney guide walks through them.
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Louisiana Requirements for Healthcare Power of Attorney
The principal names a health care agent, called a mandatary, and may name alternate agents under the general mandate provisions of Civil Code Article 2989. The agent's authority to make health care decisions specifically must be stated expressly, under Article 2997(6).
The document should describe the scope of health care decisions the agent may make, such as consenting to, refusing, or withdrawing treatment and accessing medical records, consistent with the express-authority requirement of Civil Code Article 2997(6).
Federal HIPAA regulations govern how the agent can be authorized to access the principal's protected health information once the document is in effect.
Under Civil Code Article 3026, neither this document nor the agent's authority is terminated by the principal's later incapacity, disability, or similar condition, in the absence of a contrary agreement. Unlike common-law durable powers of attorney, this is Louisiana's default rule for every mandate, health care or otherwise, not an optional feature the principal must elect by including special wording.
This document is effective once signed, and the agent's authority continues through the principal's later incapacity by default under Civil Code Article 3026. Louisiana law does not require a physician's written incapacity certification to trigger the agent's authority.
An agent with express health care decision authority under a valid mandate is recognized in Louisiana's default consent hierarchy, Revised Statutes 40:1159.4(A)(3), as authorized to consent to treatment, which can include end-of-life decisions. However, the Declaration Concerning Life-Sustaining Procedures, Revised Statutes 40:1151 and following, is Louisiana's separate living will document for terminal-condition-specific instructions, and this Health Care Power of Attorney is not itself governed by that Act.
Louisiana's Anatomical Gift Act, under Revised Statutes Title 17, Sections 2351 and following, allows an authorized person, which can include a health care agent acting under this document's express authority, to make an anatomical gift on the principal's behalf unless the principal's document states otherwise.
Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 28 is Louisiana's Mental Health Law, which governs consent to voluntary psychiatric admission and treatment separately from the general health care mandate. An agent's authority under this general health care mandate may not automatically extend to mental health treatment decisions governed by Title 28.
The principal may revoke this document at any time under Civil Code Article 3025, unless the parties agreed to make it irrevocable for a stated purpose. The document and the agent's authority also terminate automatically upon the principal's or agent's death, the agent's interdiction, or the qualification of a curator after the principal's interdiction, under Article 3024.
Louisiana law does not require this document to be witnessed at all. Under Civil Code Article 2993, no particular form is required for a mandate unless another law prescribes a form for the underlying act, and no law prescribes a form for health care decisions.
Notarization is not required for this document to be legally valid in Louisiana. Civil Code Article 2993 provides that no particular form is required for a mandate unless another law prescribes one for the act, and no law prescribes notarization for health care decisions. Executing the document as an authentic act before a notary and two witnesses, under Civil Code Article 1833, is optional and mainly useful for its evidentiary self-proving effect with hospitals.
Most health care agents serve without compensation, but the document may state whether the agent is entitled to reimbursement or payment, consistent with Civil Code Article 3012.
Naming one or more alternate agents who serve if the primary agent is unable or unwilling to act is governed by the general mandate provisions in Civil Code Article 2989, as no separate statute specifically governs successor or alternate health care agents.
Under Civil Code Article 3001, the agent must fulfill the mandate with prudence and diligence and is responsible to the principal for loss caused by a failure to perform. Article 3002 gives a court discretion to reduce the amount of loss for which the agent is liable specifically when the mandate is gratuitous, which most health care agencies are.
Facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid must inform patients of their rights under state law to make advance directives, including a Louisiana Health Care Power of Attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Health Care Power of Attorney in Louisiana is a document, based on Louisiana's general law of mandate under Civil Code Articles 2989 through 3034, that lets you name a trusted adult, your agent, to make health care decisions for you if you ever become unable to make them yourself. Louisiana law requires you to state expressly that your agent may make health care decisions, under Civil Code Article 2997(6). It covers only health care decisions, not money or property.
In Louisiana, both documents use the same underlying legal tool, a mandate under Civil Code Articles 2989 through 3034, so the two are not structurally different the way they can be in other states. The difference is scope, not durability. A Health Care Power of Attorney must expressly grant authority to make health care decisions under Civil Code Article 2997(6), while a Durable Power of Attorney expressly grants authority over property and financial acts, such as under Article 2996 for real estate. Both documents survive your later incapacity by the same default rule, Civil Code Article 3026, unless you state otherwise. Louisiana does not require you to choose between an immediate or a springing version the way some other states do.
No. Under Civil Code Article 2993, a mandate does not need to follow any particular form unless another law requires a form for the underlying act, and no Louisiana law requires a special form for health care decisions. This document can be a simple signed writing with no witnesses and no notary. Many people still choose to sign before a notary and two witnesses as an authentic act under Civil Code Article 1833, since hospitals may find that version easier to rely on, but this is optional, not required.
Louisiana law does not bar your treating physician, another health care provider, or a facility employee from serving as your health care agent. This is different from some other states, which disqualify a principal's own health care provider from acting as agent. Because Louisiana imposes no such restriction, it is worth thinking carefully about any conflict of interest before naming your own physician or care provider as your agent.
No. Louisiana does not maintain a registry for this document. The Secretary of State does maintain a declaration registry under Revised Statutes 40:1151.2, but that registry is for the Declaration Concerning Life-Sustaining Procedures, Louisiana's separate living will, not for a Health Care Power of Attorney. You keep the signed original yourself and give copies to your agent and physician.
You may revoke this document at any time under Civil Code Article 3025, unless you and your agent agreed to make it irrevocable for a stated purpose. Separately, under Civil Code Article 3024, the document ends automatically upon your death, your agent's death, your agent's interdiction, or the qualification of a curator following your own interdiction. Louisiana law does not set out a specific written notice procedure for this document, so notifying your agent and health care providers in writing is a sensible practice even though it is not a separate legal requirement.
A Louisiana Health Care Power of Attorney names an agent to make health care decisions on your behalf generally, under Civil Code Articles 2989 through 3034. Louisiana's living will, called the Declaration Concerning Life-Sustaining Procedures under Revised Statutes 40:1151 and following, instead lets you give your own direct instructions about withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining procedures if you are diagnosed with a terminal and irreversible condition, and it can be filed with the Secretary of State's declaration registry. The two documents work together but are governed by different Louisiana laws.