This guide provides print and online resources for researching advance directives. Advance directive laws are different from state to state. In New Hampshire, an advance directive is a document that allows you to give directions and guidance about future medical care and to designate another person to make medical decisions if you should lose the capacity to make health care decisions. The New Hampshire advance directive includes the durable power of attorney for health care and the living will. You may use both parts or only one part.
We also touch on related topics: do-not-resuscitate orders, provider orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST), surrogacy, and supported decision-making, RSA 464-D, Supported Decision-Making was enacted in 2021 to establish and recognize a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for adults with disabilities.
Please remember that this guide is for information purposes only and is not comprehensive.
It is intended as a starting point for research, to illustrate the various sources of the law, and to provide guidance in their use.
NH Law About ... is not a substitute for the services of an attorney.