Illinois Just Made It Easier Than Ever to Make a Power of Attorney

A power of attorney for health care enables an individual to appoint a trusted agent to make medical decisions on his or her behalf if the individual is unable or unwilling to do so for themselves. For example, if a situation arises where you are in an accident and need emergency medical care, doctors will look to a trusted individual to make decisions on your behalf. Typically, this is family members, and technically, most state laws set an order of precedence on who doctors should turn to in the absence of any specific (and legally binding) instructions from the patient. However, the most ideal situation is one in which doctors rely on the instructions the patient has detailed in a valid power of attorney. 

Powers of attorney for health care do not have many specific requirements for validity. But, they do need to be signed by the patient and at least one witness (this varies by state). Often, someone may decide that they need a health care power of attorney in a pinch. For example, an older parent may be going in for surgery and want to cover their bases if something goes wrong. They may decide the day of the surgery that they would like to name an adult child as their health care decision-maker if something happens, so that child cannot serve as the witness. Typically, an estate planning attorney could witness the document, but that may mean scrambling at the last minute for an appointment or coordinating a meeting quickly on the way to the hospital. Not ideal. 

Now, however, Illinois has amended the Illinois Power of Attorney Act to permit electronic signatures. The Act states that: 

The Illinois Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act permits those witnesses not only to sign electronically, but also to sign remotely. 

So, instead of a mad last-minute scramble to sign and witness an 11th hour power of attorney, one can be e-signed online through video conferencing with the principal and estate planning attorney quickly linking up on zoom from the comfort of their home, office, or even the hospital bed, with much more simplicity and convenience. 

The Power of Attorney Act was further amended to permit powers of attorney for health care to be in electronic format. So, it is no longer a requirement to dig the paper hard copy out of the basement filing cabinet and remember to bring it to the hospital. Instead, an electronic copy can simply be sent to the hospital through its patient portal, once that functionality is set up by the health care provider at least. 

The power of attorney can now easily form a seamless part of a health care record, neatly kept in an electronic medical file. 

The pandemic of 2020-2021 forced institutions to make things more efficient and reflective of the technologically-centric world we now live in. That is not more evident in many places as it is the area of law. And, few practicing attorneys would tell you that’s a bad thing.