2016 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 19a - Public Health and Well-Being
Chapter 368w - Removal of Life Support Systems
Section 19a-580e - *(See end of section for amended version of subsection (a) and effective date.) Conservator’s duty to comply with conserved person’s health care instructions or other wishes. Precedence of health care representative’s decisions. Exceptions.
*(a) Except as authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction, a conservator shall comply with a conserved person’s individual health care instructions and other wishes, if any, expressed while the conserved person had capacity and to the extent known to the conservator, and the conservator may not revoke the conserved person’s advance health care directive or a directive executed in accordance with subdivision (14) of section 1-52 or section 45a-318, unless the appointing court expressly so authorizes.
(b) Absent a court order to the contrary, a decision of a health care representative concerning health care or the disposition of the body of a deceased person takes precedence over that of a conservator, except under the following circumstances: (1) When the health care decision concerns a person who is subject to the provisions of section 17a-566, 17a-587, 17a-588 or 54-56d; (2) when a conservator has been appointed for a conserved person who is subject to an order authorized under subsection (e) of section 17a-543, for the duration of the conserved person’s hospitalization; or (3) when a conservator has been appointed for a conserved person subject to an order authorized under section 17a-543a.
(P.A. 06-195, S. 79; P.A. 07-116, S. 32; P.A. 14-204, S. 4.)
*Note: On and after July 1, 2016, subsection (a) of this section, as amended by section 54 of public act 15-240, is to read as follows:
“(a) Except as authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction, a conservator shall comply with a conserved person’s individual health care instructions and other wishes, if any, expressed while the conserved person had capacity and to the extent known to the conservator, and the conservator may not revoke the conserved person’s advance health care directive or a directive executed in accordance with section 45a-318, unless the appointing court expressly so authorizes.”
(P.A. 06-195, S. 79; P.A. 07-116, S. 32; P.A. 14-204, S. 4; P.A. 15-240, S. 54.)
History: P.A. 07-116 substituted “conserved person” for “ward”; P.A. 14-204 amended Subsec. (a) by adding reference to directive executed in accordance with Secs. 1-52(14) or 45a-318 and amended Subsec. (b) by substituting “decision” for “health care decision” and adding “concerning health care or the disposition of the body of a deceased person”; P.A. 15-240 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting reference to Sec. 1-52(14), effective July 1, 2016.
