Connecticut Healthcare Power of Attorney: How to Appoint a Medical Decision-Maker

When a parent is rushed to the hospital and can't communicate treatment preferences, the family gets pulled into a tangle of medical decisions they may not be authorized to make. Connecticut law provides a straightforward mechanism to prevent this — but the state uses its own terminology and has specific rules that differ from what most online resources describe.

Connecticut Calls It a "Health Care Representative"

Connecticut doesn't use the term "healthcare power of attorney" in its statutes. Instead, the state uses two interconnected documents under the Advance Health Care Directive framework:

1. Appointment of Health Care Representative (C.G.S. § 19a-576) — this is the functional equivalent of a healthcare POA. You name a person to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to communicate.
2. Living Will / Health Care Instructions (C.G.S. § 19a-575) — this documents your specific wishes about end-of-life treatment, life-sustaining measures, and organ donation.

Both are typically combined into a single Advance Health Care Directive document, though they serve different purposes. The representative appointment gives a person authority to make real-time decisions. The living will gives that person (and the medical team) guidance about what you'd want.

Who Can Serve as Your Health Care Representative

Connecticut law allows you to appoint any competent adult as your health care representative, with a few restrictions:

• Your treating physician cannot serve as your representative (conflict of interest)
• If you live in a DMHAS or DDS facility, staff members of that facility cannot serve as your representative
• You should name at least one alternate representative in case your primary choice is unavailable

The representative's authority includes consenting to or refusing treatment, accessing your medical records, hiring and firing health care providers, and making end-of-life decisions consistent with your documented wishes.

Signing Requirements

The witnessing rules for a Connecticut Advance Health Care Directive are specific:

• The principal must sign in the presence of two adult witnesses
• Neither witness can be the appointed health care representative
• Neither witness can be the principal's treating physician

Facility-specific rules apply. If the principal lives in a facility operated or licensed by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) or the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), at least one witness must be completely unaffiliated with the facility, and the second must be a physician, APRN, or licensed clinical psychologist. These heightened standards exist to protect vulnerable adults from potential coercion.

Unlike a financial power of attorney, notarization is not required by statute for an advance directive — but many hospitals and care facilities prefer notarized documents because they reduce questions about authenticity during a crisis.

How This Differs From a Financial POA

The financial power of attorney and the healthcare representative appointment are completely separate legal authorities in Connecticut:

Most families need both documents. A financial POA without a healthcare directive leaves the family able to pay hospital bills but unable to direct treatment. A healthcare directive without a financial POA leaves the family directing care but unable to access funds to pay for it.

MOLST: When an Advance Directive Isn't Enough

For individuals with terminal illness or advanced progressive frailty, Connecticut uses Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) — a bright green form that creates actual medical orders, not just wishes.

Key differences from an advance directive:

• A MOLST must be completed and signed by an eligible clinician (physician, APRN, or physician assistant) — not just the patient
• It produces actionable medical orders that emergency responders and hospital staff must follow
• It's voluntary and can be revoked at any time
• It covers specific scenarios: CPR decisions, ventilator use, feeding tubes, antibiotics, and hospital transfer preferences

A MOLST complements an advance directive — it doesn't replace it. The advance directive establishes the overall framework and names the decision-maker. The MOLST translates specific treatment preferences into standing medical orders.

What Happens Without a Healthcare Directive

If a Connecticut resident becomes incapacitated without an advance directive, medical decisions default to a statutory hierarchy:

1. Court-appointed conservator (if one exists)
2. Spouse or civil union partner
3. Adult child
4. Parent
5. Adult sibling
6. Other next of kin

This sounds orderly until you consider the reality: siblings disagree about treatment, estranged spouses technically outrank devoted adult children, and medical staff may delay critical decisions while sorting out who has authority.

An advance directive eliminates this ambiguity. You choose your decision-maker, document your wishes, and give the medical team a clear framework to follow.

Coordinate Healthcare and Financial Authority Together

The Connecticut Power of Attorney Kit covers both financial and healthcare planning — including step-by-step instructions for appointing a health care representative, a signing protocol that satisfies Connecticut's witness requirements, and coordination worksheets to ensure your financial agent and healthcare representative work together seamlessly during a crisis.

See more Connecticut guides →