On May 11, 2026, the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act of 2026 was signed into law. This new law seeks to modernize Oklahoma health care planning and provide a more comprehensive scheme for people seeking to plan for future health care issues and emergencies. It aims to modernize how Oklahoma law treats advanced directives and healthcare powers of attorney. Though the Act will not go into effect until July of 2027, it is important to understand how it will affect and expand your current and future healthcare planning.
The Uniform Act is long, stretching across many statutes, but some of the most essential changes are highlighted below.
- Most Old Advanced Directive and Health Care Power of Attorney Laws will be Repealed.
In Oklahoma, the main way you can plan for future health care issues is by preparing an advanced directive and appointing one or more health care agents who are empowered to make decisions about your health care through your health care power of attorney.
An advanced directive is essentially a list of instructions, detailing how you wish to be cared for in the event you are unable to communicate these wishes yourself (this is known as being incapacitated). Most advanced directives cover issues such as life sustaining treatment and administering food and water artificially, in the event you are unable to swallow. These are usually dealt with through checkable boxes, where you can indicate your preferences. Your advanced directive can be even broader however, if you have a specific issue or concern.
Meanwhile, most health care agents are appointed by a separate document, often itself titled “Power of Attorney for Health Care,” though the new act combines these two documents (discussed below). Health care agents are not empowered to make decisions about withdrawing life sustaining treatment or artificially administered food and water unless you specifically assign that power through its own paragraph.
However, the first big wave made by the Uniform Act is expressly repealing most of the Oklahoma Advanced Directive and Healthcare Agent acts. Most provisions found within these old acts have been reproduced in the new Act, and nothing in the statute’s language expressly invalidates directives and appointments made under the old acts. However, it is important to know that your old forms may not cover everything featured in the new Act, and certain provisions you may have been aware of or relied upon in your health care planning may no longer exist come next year. If you are worried that your old planning might not be enforceable, reach out to your estate planning attorney to update your health care planning.
- The New Statutory Form will Combine Health Care Power of Attorney and Advanced Directives.
The old statutory forms for power of attorney and advanced directives are among the statutes repealed by the Uniform Act. In their places, the Act provides a new combined form. This form provides for the creation of an “Advance Health Care Directive,” which can encompass both the appointment of a health care agent under power of attorney and the creation of healthcare instructions, to be followed should the worst happen. The checkboxes regarding life-sustaining care have specifically been carried over from the old advanced directive form. The form also includes a new section for listing health care “Priorities.” Rather than direct instructions, this section is intended to provide indirect guidance to anyone making health care decisions by outlining what is and is not important to you, including how important or unimportant it is for your decisionmaker to consult your friends or family about these decisions.
- You will be Able to Create an Advanced Directive Specifically for Mental Health Care.
This new directive can also outline your priorities and philosophy regarding mental health and may assign a power of attorney limited solely for mental health care decisions. If you are worried about the administration of certain treatments or medications for mental health, you can even specifically refuse them here. Lastly, if you are worried about a specific condition, you can specify both what to do during an episode of that condition and limit your own powers when such a mental episode occurs.
- The Definition of Incapacitated will Be Expanded and Refined.
The new Act takes greater care to define what it means to be “incapacitated.” This definition is important because being deemed incapacitated is usually essential for someone else to be allowed to make health care decisions for you in accordance with your directives. Under the new Act, a person is presumed to have capacity, meaning they are capable of making decisions independently or with appropriate assistance or support.
As far as being found to be incapacitated, the new Act sets out a two-pronged approach.
First, a physician, phycologist, or specially trained Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, social worker, or physician’s assistant, may respond to and defeat the presumption that a person has capacity, effectively finding that person to be incapacitated. This is a change from the old advanced directive form, which requires two physicians to find a lack of capacity. In an emergency, other healthcare professionals may do this as well. In either case, the professional is required to document their conclusion that a person lacks capacity in a signed record.
In most cases, this will be the end of the test. However, the professional is also required to inform the person that they have been determined to lack capacity. In response, if able, the person may object to the finding. If they do so, a second opinion by a medical professional will be required to uphold the finding unless the person is at risk of death or serious bodily harm.
Alternatively, a court may also judge a person to lack capacity. This finding overrides potential objections and so is beyond the two-pronged scheme.
Lastly, a request by the person to continue or begin life sustaining treatment will override any decisions to end or deny such treatment regardless of that person’s capacity.
- The Act Creates a Hierarchy of People Who May Make Health Care Decisions for You When You are Incapacitated
Under the new Act, if you fail to appoint someone capable of making health care decisions for you when you are incapacitated, the new Act has created a list of people to whom hospitals can look to for decision making. This list is in order of preference and includes 1. someone identified by the person to make their health care decisions (outside of a power of attorney) 2. A person’s spouse 3. A person’s adult child or parent (note that parents and adult children are in the same category, so if you have both, they will share equal decision-making power and will need to agree) 4. A person’s cohabitant 5. A person’s sibling, and more.
This demonstrates the need for a good advanced directive, as the list’s order of preference may not match your own. Further, if a hospital is unable to contact someone or determine the identity of someone higher on the list, they are permitted to pass them over. There also exist several exceptions for people who will be passed over when determining the default decision maker. As such, it is better to make this decision yourself, before the law has to make it for you.
These are just a few of the changes instituted by the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act of 2026, and health care laws are always changing. If you are worried that your old plans may no longer be enforceable, if you want to update them to take advantage of recent changes, or if you just have questions about the Uniform Act, contact us today or book an appointment online!
