The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 18 : Health

Chapter 231 : Advance Directives for Health Care, Disposition of Remains, and Surrogate Decision Making

Subchapter 001 : ADVANCE DIRECTIVES AND DISPOSITION OF REMAINS

• § 9702. Advance directive

  (a) An adult may do any or all of the following in an advance directive:

  (1) except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, appoint one or more agents and alternate agents to whom authority to make health care decisions is delegated and specify the scope of such authority;

  (2) affirm that the agent and alternate agents have been notified of and have accepted the appointment and will be given copies of the advance directive;

  (3) specify a circumstance or condition, which may be unrelated to the principal’s capacity, which, when met, makes the authority of an agent effective or ineffective, and may specify the manner in which the condition shall be determined to have been met;

  (4) provide that the advance directive will become effective upon execution;

  (5) direct the type of health care desired or not desired by the principal, which may include instructions regarding transfer from home, hospitalization, and specific treatments that the principal desires or rejects when being treated for a mental or physical condition or disability;

  (6) execute a provision under subsection 9707(h) of this title which permits the agent to authorize or withhold health care over the principal’s objection in the event the principal lacks capacity;

  (7) direct which life sustaining treatments, as defined in subdivision 9701(19) of this title, whether emergency, short-term, or long-term, and including nutrition and hydration administered by medical means, are desired or not desired by the principal;

  (8) direct which life sustaining treatment the principal would desire or not desire if the principal is pregnant at the time an advance directive becomes effective;

  (9) identify those persons whom the principal does not want to serve as his or her decision-maker, or those adults or minors with whom the agent shall or shall not consult or to whom the agent is or is not authorized to provide information regarding the principal’s health care;

  (10) identify those individuals or entities, whether or not otherwise qualified to bring an action under section 9718 of this title, who shall or shall not have authority to bring an action under that section;

  (11) authorize release to named individuals in addition to the agent of health information pursuant to HIPAA;

  (12) provide any other direction that the principal desires to give regarding the principal’s future health care or personal circumstances;

  (13) identify a preferred clinician and affirm that the clinician has been notified;

  (14) nominate one or more individuals to serve as the principal’s guardian if a guardian should at some later time need to be appointed, or identify those individuals the principal does not want to serve as guardian;

  (15) make, limit, or refuse to make an anatomical gift pursuant to chapter 110 of this title;

  (16) direct the manner of disposition of the principal’s remains and the funeral goods and services to be provided;

  (17) identify a pre-need contract entered into with a funeral director, crematory, or cemetery; and

  (18) except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, appoint an individual to make or refuse to make an anatomical gift, and to arrange for the disposition of the principal’s remains, including funeral goods and services.

  (b) The absence of an advance directive or of any specific instruction in an advance directive shall have no effect on determining the principal’s intent or wishes regarding health care or any other matter.

  (c) The principal’s health care provider may not be the principal’s agent. Unless related to the principal by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption, an agent may not be an owner, operator, employee, agent, or contractor of a residential care facility, a health care facility, or a correctional facility in which the principal resides at the time of execution of an advance directive.

  (d) Unless related to the principal by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption, an individual may not exercise the authority pursuant to an advance directive for disposition of remains, anatomical gifts, or funeral goods and services while serving the interests of the principal in one of the following capacities:

  (1) a funeral director or employee of the funeral director;

  (2) a crematory operator or employee of the crematory operator;

  (3) a cemetery official or employee of the cemetery; or

  (4) an employee or representative of a procurement organization. (Added 2005, No. 55, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2005; amended 2005, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 333; 2009, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)