Free Alabama Medical Power of Attorney Form

An Alabama medical power of attorney is the health care proxy section of the state’s Advance Directive for Health Care. It names the person who makes medical decisions for you when you can no longer make them yourself.

You can use the proxy section alone or pair it with the living will section in the same document.

Alabama keeps its rules in the Natural Death Act, and most of them sit in Code of Alabama § 22-8A-4. A few details are easy to miss.

Your Proxy Must Accept in Writing

Naming someone is not enough on its own. The person you choose must accept the role in writing, and that acceptance is attached to the document. The state form gives your first and second choice a place to sign that they are willing to serve.

You Need Two Adult Witnesses

Sign in front of two witnesses who are at least 19 years old. Neither witness can be:

• The person who signed for you at your direction
• Your health care proxy
• Related to you by blood, adoption, or marriage
• Entitled to any part of your estate under a will or under Alabama’s inheritance rules
• Directly responsible for paying for your medical care

Some People Can Never Serve as Your Proxy

Your own health care provider cannot act as your proxy. Neither can a nonrelative employee of your provider.

Divorce Changes Things Automatically

If you name your spouse, a later divorce or annulment revokes that choice unless your document or the court order says otherwise.

It Takes Effect Only in Specific Situations

Your attending physician must decide you can no longer understand and direct your own treatment. Two physicians must also document a terminal illness or injury, or permanent unconsciousness. During a known pregnancy, the document has no effect.

No, Alabama’s statute requires two qualified witnesses rather than a notary. The execution rules in § 22-8A-4 list writing, a signature, a date, and two witnesses, with no notary step.

For general health decisions outside end-of-life care, the proxy’s powers are limited to what Alabama’s Durable Power of Attorney Act allows under § 26-1-2. For that reason, some people also sign a separate durable power of attorney for health care. A local attorney can tell you whether your situation needs both.

Follow these steps to complete your Alabama medical power of attorney form correctly:

1. Fill in the proxy section with your first choice and, if you want one, a second choice.
2. Choose how much room your proxy has: follow only your written directions, also decide things you did not cover, or make the final call.
3. Sign and date the document, or have someone sign for you in your presence and at your direction.
4. Have both qualified witnesses sign on the same occasion.
5. Ask each proxy to sign the willingness-to-serve section.
6. Hand copies to your attending physician and other providers so the document joins your medical record.

Alabama requires the document to be substantially in the statutory form, though you can add other specific directions. That makes the layout itself part of what gives your Alabama medical power of attorney its force.

The Required Sections

The state form runs in six parts:

• Section 1, a living will covering terminal illness and permanent unconsciousness
• Section 2, your choice of health care proxy and a backup
• Section 3, your acknowledgments, including the pregnancy rule
• Section 4, your signature and date of birth
• Section 5, the two witness signatures
• Section 6, each proxy’s signed agreement to serve

Decisions About Feeding Tubes

Food and water through a tube or IV cannot be withheld under a proxy designation unless you specifically authorize it. The form asks you to initial yes or no on this point, so answer it deliberately.

Choosing Your Proxy’s Authority

Say you sign both a living will and a proxy designation. Your proxy’s decisions on life-sustaining treatment then take precedence over the living will, unless you say otherwise. The initial boxes in Section 2 are where you set that balance.