§ 30-4410 — Attorney in fact; authority

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, a specific grant of authority to an attorney in fact to consent to the principal's inpatient mental health treatment or psychotropic medication is not required to convey authority to the attorney in fact to consent to such treatments. An attorney in fact may consent to such treatments for the principal if the principal's written grant of authority in the principal's advance mental health care directive is sufficiently broad to encompass these decisions.
(2) When an incapacitated principal refuses inpatient mental health treatment or psychotropic medication, the principal's attorney in fact only has the authority to consent to such treatments for the principal if the principal's directive is irrevocable and expressly authorizes the attorney in fact to consent to the applicable treatment. An attorney in fact shall only have the authority to consent to electroconvulsive therapy for the principal if the principal's directive is irrevocable and expressly authorizes the attorney in fact to consent to electroconvulsive therapy.
(3) An attorney in fact's decisions for the principal must be in good faith and consistent with the principal's instructions expressed in the principal's directive. If the directive fails to address an issue, the attorney in fact shall make decisions in accordance with the principal's instructions or preferences otherwise known to the attorney in fact. If the attorney in fact does not know the principal's instructions or preferences, the attorney in fact shall make decisions in the best interests of the principal.
(4) If the principal grants the attorney in fact authority to make decisions for the principal in circumstances in which the principal still has capacity, the principal's decisions when the principal has capacity shall nonetheless override the attorney in fact's decisions.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 2020, LB247, § 10.