Ohio Healthcare Power of Attorney Requirements
Ohio's Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care carries an unusual feature: if you authorize it, your attorney in fact can start gathering information about your health the instant you sign, even before you lose capacity, though the power to actually decide for you still waits on your attending physician's capacity determination.
Introduction
Ohio's Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care carries an unusual feature: if you authorize it, your attorney in fact can start gathering information about your health the instant you sign, even before you lose capacity, though the power to actually decide for you still waits on your attending physician's capacity determination. In Ohio, the document that creates this agent relationship, letting you name someone you trust to make health care decisions for you once you no longer can, is created and governed by Ohio Revised Code Sections 1337.11 through 1337.17, and "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care" is its actual official name in the statute, not a nickname. That name can be confusing, because Ohio also has a completely separate general power of attorney for money and property matters, and that document is also called durable under Ohio law. The two are not the same document and are not governed by the same rules. This page covers only the health care version: it says nothing about your money, property, or bills, and it works differently from the financial version in an important way. Signing it does not hand your attorney in fact immediate decision-making authority. That authority only becomes exercisable once your attending physician determines that you have lost the capacity to make your own informed health care decisions. Ohio gives you two ways to make the document legally valid: sign it in front of two qualified witnesses, or sign it before a notary public. There is no state agency that publishes one official fill-in form, and Ohio has no central registry to file the document with. You simply keep the signed original and give copies to your physician, your attorney in fact, and any alternates.
Key Things to Know
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Ohio actually has two different documents called "durable" power of attorney, and this one covers only health care: a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, created under Ohio Revised Code Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17, lets you (the principal) name a trusted adult (your attorney in fact, or agent) to make health care decisions for you once you lose the capacity to make them yourself.
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Your attorney in fact's authority to make decisions does not start the moment you sign. It begins only after your attending physician determines that you have lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions (Ohio Rev. Code Section 1337.13(A)(1)).
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If you specifically authorize it in the document, your attorney in fact may start obtaining information about your health immediately upon signing, regardless of your capacity, even though actual decision-making authority still waits for the physician's determination.
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Your attorney in fact cannot be your attending physician or the administrator of a nursing home where you are receiving care. An employee of either may not serve unless that person is your relative or a member of your same religious order (Section 1337.12).
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You must sign in front of at least two adult witnesses who are not related to you, not your named attorney in fact, not your attending physician, and not a nursing home administrator, or sign before a notary public instead. You do not need both.
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You can revoke the document at any time and in any manner. If your physician already knows about it, the revocation is effective once it is communicated to that physician (Section 1337.14).
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Ohio has no central state registry for this document. Keep the signed original and give copies to your physician, your attorney in fact, and any alternates.
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This is a different document from Ohio's general Power of Attorney, which covers money and property and is durable by default under a different set of statutes (Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Healthcare Power of Attorney in Ohio, 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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Ohio Requirements for Healthcare Power of Attorney
The principal designates an attorney in fact (agent) to make health care decisions. Ohio's statute requires designating the attorney in fact by name in the instrument.
Ohio's statute permits naming one or more alternate attorneys in fact to serve if a prior choice is unable or unwilling to act.
The attorney in fact's authority is defined and limited by Section 1337.13: the agent must act consistently with the principal's known wishes, or in the principal's best interest if wishes are unknown (division (A)(1)), and that authority is restricted regarding life-sustaining treatment absent a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state (division (B)), comfort care (division (C)), a pregnant principal (division (D)), and nutrition or hydration (division (E)).
Federal HIPAA regulations govern how the attorney in fact can be authorized to access the principal's protected health information once the document is in effect.
The document must be signed at the end of the instrument by the principal and dated (division (A)(1)(a)), then either witnessed by at least two eligible adult witnesses (division (B)) or acknowledged before a notary public (division (C)). The principal must sign the document personally; Ohio's healthcare power of attorney statute does not permit another person to sign on the principal's behalf.
If using witnesses instead of notarization, neither witness may be a person related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, the named attorney in fact or alternate attorney in fact, the principal's attending physician, or the administrator of a nursing home where the principal is receiving care.
The principal may revoke the durable power of attorney for health care, or just the designation of the attorney in fact, at any time and in any manner that expresses an intent to revoke. If the principal's attending physician already knew of the document, the revocation is effective as to that physician once communicated by the principal, a witness to the revocation, or other health care personnel informed by such a witness.
The attorney in fact's authority to make health care decisions becomes exercisable only when the principal's attending physician determines that the principal has lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions.
Section 1337.13(D) restricts the attorney in fact's authority to refuse or withdraw informed consent to health care for a pregnant principal where doing so would terminate the pregnancy, subject to specific statutory medical conditions.
A principal may nominate a guardian of the principal's person (and other matters) within the durable power of attorney for health care itself, under Section 1337.12(E).
Under Ohio's Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, an agent authorized to make health care decisions for the principal may also make an anatomical gift on the principal's behalf unless the durable power of attorney for health care (or another signed record) prohibits it.
Under Section 1337.14, a declaration for mental health treatment does not revoke a principal's durable power of attorney for health care, but it supersedes that document specifically as to mental health treatment decisions. A principal who wants advance mental health treatment authority addressed directly should consider Ohio's separate Declaration for Mental Health Treatment.
Facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid must inform patients of their rights under state law to make advance directives, including a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
A durable power of attorney for health care executed under another state's law is considered valid in Ohio for purposes of Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 as long as it substantially complies with that other state's law or with Ohio's own requirements (Section 1337.16).
Ohio law addresses one specific form of conflict: a health care provider unwilling to comply with a decision made under the durable power of attorney for health care, on grounds of conscience, must not prevent or attempt to prevent the transfer of the principal to a willing and able provider or facility.
Physicians, health care facilities and personnel, and the attorney in fact are protected from criminal prosecution, professional discipline, and civil liability when acting in good faith in reliance on a valid durable power of attorney for health care and consistent with its terms and Ohio law.
While Ohio does not prescribe an official fill-in-the-blank statutory form, Section 1337.17 requires that any printed form sold or distributed in Ohio for use by adults not advised by an attorney must include a specific mandatory "Notice to Adult Executing This Document," with certain content required to appear in conspicuous type.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care in Ohio is a legal document, created under Ohio Revised Code Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17, that lets you name a trusted adult, called your attorney in fact, to make health care decisions for you if you ever lose the capacity to make them yourself. It covers only health care decisions, and your attorney in fact's decision-making authority takes effect only after your attending physician determines you have lost that capacity.
An Ohio Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care covers only health care decisions. Ohio's general Power of Attorney, governed by a different set of statutes (the Ohio Uniform Power of Attorney Act, Sections 1337.21 to 1337.64), covers property and financial matters instead and by law does not extend to health care. The two also differ in how they take effect: the general Power of Attorney is durable by default and can remain effective through incapacity without any special drafting, while the health care document's decision-making authority always waits for your attending physician's determination that you have lost capacity, no matter what the document says. Execution differs too: the general Power of Attorney needs only your signature, with notarization optional, while the health care document requires either two qualified witnesses or a notary.
Yes. Unlike some states, Ohio law does not allow one witness to be less qualified than the other. Neither witness may be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, named as your attorney in fact or alternate, your attending physician, or the administrator of a nursing home where you are receiving care (Ohio Rev. Code Section 1337.12).
No. Ohio law bars your attending physician, and separately bars the administrator of any nursing home where you are receiving care, from serving as your attorney in fact, with no exception for either of those two roles specifically. An employee of your physician or of a treating health care facility is also barred from serving, unless that employee happens to be your relative or a member of your same religious order (Ohio Rev. Code Section 1337.12).
No. Ohio does not operate a central advance-directive registry, and no state agency publishes one official government form for this document. You keep the signed original yourself and give copies to your physician, your attorney in fact, and any alternates so they have it when needed.
You can revoke it, or just the designation of your attorney in fact, at any time and in any manner that expresses your intent to revoke. If your attending physician already knew about the document, the revocation takes effect once it is communicated to that physician by you, by a witness to the revocation, or by other health care personnel informed by that witness (Ohio Rev. Code Section 1337.14).
Yes. A durable power of attorney for health care executed under another state's law is considered valid in Ohio as long as it substantially complies with that state's law or with Ohio's own requirements under Sections 1337.11 to 1337.17 (Ohio Rev. Code Section 1337.16).