Title 16 — Health and Safety
143 chapters · 977 sections in this title.
16 Del. C. § 2501. Short title.
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§ 2501. Short title. This chapter may be cited as the “Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act (2023).”84 Del. Laws, c. 467, § 1;
16 Del. C. § 2502. Definitions.
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§ 2502. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter: (1) “Advance health-care directive” means a power of attorney for health care, health-care instruction, or both. The term includes an advance mental health-care directive. (2) “Advance mental health-care directive” means a power …
16 Del. C. § 2503. Capacity.
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§ 2503. Capacity. (a) An individual has capacity for the purpose of this chapter if the individual is willing and able to communicate a decision independently or with appropriate services, technological assistance, supported decision making, or other reasonable accommodation and …
16 Del. C. § 2504. Presumption of capacity; overcoming presumption [For application of this section, see 85 Del. Laws, c. 253, § 23].
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§ 2504. Presumption of capacity; overcoming presumption [For application of this section, see 85 Del. Laws, c. 253, § 23]. (a) An individual is presumed to have capacity to make or revoke a health-care decision, health-care instruction, and power of attorney for health care unles…
16 Del. C. § 2505. Notice of finding of lack of capacity; right to object.
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§ 2505. Notice of finding of lack of capacity; right to object. (a) As soon as reasonably feasible, an individual who makes a finding under § 2504(b) of this title shall inform the individual about whom the finding was made or the individual’s responsible health-care professional…
16 Del. C. § 2506. Judicial review of finding of lack of capacity.
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§ 2506. Judicial review of finding of lack of capacity. (a) An individual found under § 2504(b) of this title to lack capacity, a responsible health-care professional, the health-care institution providing health care to the individual, or a person interested in the welfare of th…
16 Del. C. § 2507. Health-care instruction.
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§ 2507. Health-care instruction. (a) An individual may create a health-care instruction that expresses the individual’s preferences for future health care, including preferences regarding all of the following: (1) Health-care professionals or health-care institutions. (2) How a h…
16 Del. C. § 2508. Power of attorney for health care.
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§ 2508. Power of attorney for health care. (a) An individual may create a power of attorney for health care to appoint an agent to make health-care decisions for the individual. (b) An individual is disqualified from acting as agent for an individual who lacks capacity to make he…
16 Del. C. § 2509. Advance mental health-care directive.
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§ 2509. Advance mental health-care directive. (a) An individual may create an advance health-care directive that addresses only mental health care for the individual. The directive may include a health-care instruction, a power of attorney for health care, or both. (b) A health-c…
16 Del. C. § 2510. Relationship of advance mental health-care directive and other advance health-care directive.
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§ 2510. Relationship of advance mental health-care directive and other advance health-care directive. (a) If a direction in an advance mental health-care directive of an individual conflicts with a direction in another advance health-care directive of the individual, the later di…
16 Del. C. § 2511. Optional form.
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§ 2511. Optional form. The following form may be used to create an advance health-care directive: ADVANCE HEALTH-CARE DIRECTIVE HOW YOU CAN USE THIS FORM You can use this form if you wish to name someone to make health-care decisions for you in case you cannot make decisions for …
16 Del. C. § 2512. Default surrogate.
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§ 2512. Default surrogate. (a) A default surrogate may make a health-care decision for an individual who lacks capacity to make health-care decisions and for whom an agent, or guardian authorized to make health-care decisions, has not been appointed or is not reasonably available…
16 Del. C. § 2513. Disagreement among default surrogates.
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§ 2513. Disagreement among default surrogates. (a) A default surrogate who assumes authority under § 2512 of this title shall inform a responsible health-care professional if 2 or more members of a class under § 2512(b) of this title have assumed authority to act as default surro…
16 Del. C. § 2514. Disqualification to act as default surrogate.
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§ 2514. Disqualification to act as default surrogate. (a) An individual for whom a health-care decision would be made may disqualify another individual from acting as default surrogate for the first individual. The disqualification must be in a record signed by the first individu…
16 Del. C. § 2515. Revocation.
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§ 2515. Revocation. (a) An individual may revoke the appointment of an agent, the designation of a default surrogate, or a health-care instruction in whole or in part, unless any of the following: (1) A court finds the individual lacks capacity to do so. (2) The individual is fou…
16 Del. C. § 2516. Validity of advance health-care directive; conflict with other law.
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§ 2516. Validity of advance health-care directive; conflict with other law. (a) An advance health-care directive created outside this State is valid if it complies with either of the following: (1) The law of the state specified in the directive or, if a state is not specified, t…
16 Del. C. § 2517. Duties of agent and default surrogate.
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§ 2517. Duties of agent and default surrogate. (a) An agent or default surrogate has a fiduciary duty to the individual for whom the agent or default surrogate is acting when exercising or purporting to exercise a power under § 2518 of this title. (b) An agent or default surrogat…
16 Del. C. § 2518. Powers of agent and default surrogate.
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§ 2518. Powers of agent and default surrogate. (a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the power of an agent or default surrogate commences when the individual is found under § 2504(b) of this title or by a court to lack capacity to make a health-care decision. …
16 Del. C. § 2519. Limitation on powers.
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§ 2519. Limitation on powers. (a) If an individual has a long-term disability requiring routine treatment by artificial nutrition, hydration, or mechanical ventilation and a history of using the treatment without objection, an agent or default surrogate may not consent to withhol…
16 Del. C. § 2520. Co-agents; alternate agent.
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§ 2520. Co-agents; alternate agent. (a) An individual in a power of attorney for health care may appoint multiple individuals as co-agents. Unless the power of attorney provides otherwise, each co-agent may exercise independent authority. (b) An individual in a power of attorney …
16 Del. C. § 2521. Duties of health-care professional, responsible health-care professional, and health-care institution.
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§ 2521. Duties of health-care professional, responsible health-care professional, and health-care institution. (a) A responsible health-care professional who is aware that an individual has been found to lack capacity to make a decision shall make a reasonable effort to determine…
16 Del. C. § 2522. Decision by guardian.
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§ 2522. Decision by guardian. (a) A guardian may refuse to comply with a provision of or revoke the individual’s advance health-care directive only if the court appointing the guardian issues an order expressly permitting the acts taken by the guardian. (b) Unless a court orders …
16 Del. C. § 2523. Immunity.
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§ 2523. Immunity. (a) A health-care professional or health-care institution acting in good faith is not subject to civil or criminal liability or to discipline for unprofessional conduct for any of the following: (1) Complying with a health-care decision made for an individual by…
16 Del. C. § 2524. Prohibited conduct; damages.
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§ 2524. Prohibited conduct; damages. (a) A person may not do any of the following: (1) Intentionally falsify, in whole or in part, an advance health-care directive. (2) Intentionally conceal, deface, obliterate, or delete the directive or a revocation of the directive without con…
16 Del. C. § 2525. Effect of copy; certified physical copy.
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§ 2525. Effect of copy; certified physical copy. (a) A physical or electronic copy of an advance health-care directive, revocation of an advance health-care directive, or appointment, designation, or disqualification of a surrogate has the same effect as the original. (b) An indi…
16 Del. C. § 2526. Judicial relief.
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§ 2526. Judicial relief. (a) On petition of an individual, the individual’s surrogate, a health-care professional or health-care institution providing health care to the individual, or a person interested in the welfare of the individual, the court may: (1) Enjoin implementation …
16 Del. C. § 2527. Construction.
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§ 2527. Construction. (a) This chapter does not authorize mercy killing, assisted suicide, or euthanasia. (b) This chapter does not affect other law of this State governing treatment for mental illness of an individual involuntarily committed to a designated psychiatric treatment…
16 Del. C. § 2528. Uniformity of application and construction.
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§ 2528. Uniformity of application and construction. In applying and construing this uniform act, a court shall consider the promotion of uniformity of the law among jurisdictions that enact it.84 Del. Laws, c. 467, § 1;
16 Del. C. § 2529. Savings provisions.
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§ 2529. Savings provisions. (a) An advance health-care directive created before September 30, 2025, is valid if it complies with this chapter or complied at the time of creation with the law of the state in which it was created. (b) This chapter does not affect the validity or ef…
16 Del. C. § 2530. Transitional provision.
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§ 2530. Transitional provision. This chapter applies to an advance health-care directive created before, on, or after September 30, 2025.70 Del. Laws, c. 392, § 7; 71 Del. Laws, c. 419, § 1; 84 Del. Laws, c. 467, § 1;