Health Care Power of Attorney and Funeral Decisions for Domestic Partners

With a durable health care power of attorney, you can name anyone to make your health care decisions when you are unable to. Blood relatives have no statutory priority with regards to health care decisions. Without a health care power of attorney, a domestic partner has no legal rights to make health care decisions on your behalf.  Without any medical directive, hospitals may look toward blood relatives before a domestic partner.  Therefore, domestic partners need to legally name each other in a health care power of attorney to have a role in the decision making.

When it comes to funerals and burial issues, domestic partners can name a person, such as the domestic partner, as their agent to make decisions about how to handle their remains either through burial or cremation, if a religious service will be held and, if so, what type of memorial it will be.  Without such written designation, a domestic partner may have no impute over blood relatives as to your burial or cremation.

Click here to view Estate Planning Considerations for Domestic Partners.