N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.22 – Powers of guardian; personal needs
§ 81.22 Powers of guardian; personal needs.
Terms Used In N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.22
- activities of daily living: means activities such as, but not limited to, mobility, eating, toileting, dressing, grooming, housekeeping, cooking, shopping, money management, banking, driving or using public transportation, and other activities related to personal needs and to property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- facility: means a facility, hospital, or school, or an alcoholism facility in this state as such terms are defined in section 1. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- functional limitations: means behavior or conditions of a person which impair the ability to provide for personal needs and/or property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- guardian: means a person who is eighteen years of age or older, a corporation, or a public agency, including a local department of social services, appointed in accordance with terms of this article by the supreme court, the surrogate's court, or the county court to act on behalf of an incapacitated person in providing for personal needs and/or for property management. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- least restrictive form of intervention: means that the powers granted by the court to the guardian with respect to the incapacitated person represent only those powers which are necessary to provide for that person's personal needs and/or property management and which are consistent with affording that person the greatest amount of independence and self-determination in light of that person's understanding and appreciation of the nature and consequences of his or her functional limitations. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- major medical or dental treatment: means a medical, surgical or diagnostic intervention or procedure where a general anesthetic is used or which involves any significant risk or any significant invasion of bodily integrity requiring an incision or producing substantial pain, discomfort, debilitation, or having a significant recovery period, or which involves the administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy; it does not include any routine diagnosis or treatment such as the administration of medications other than chemotherapy for non-psychiatric conditions or nutrition or the extraction of bodily fluids for analysis; dental care performed with a local anesthetic; and any procedures which are provided under emergency circumstances, pursuant to § 2504 of the public health law. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- mental hygiene facility: means a facility, hospital, or school, or an alcoholism facility in this state as such terms are defined in section 1. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
- personal needs: means needs such as, but not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, health care, and safety. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 81.03
(a) Consistent with the functional limitations of the incapacitated person, that person's understanding and appreciation of the harm that he or she is likely to suffer as the result of the inability to provide for personal needs, and that person's personal wishes, preferences, and desires with regard to managing the activities of daily living, and the least restrictive form of intervention, the court may grant to the guardian powers necessary and sufficient to provide for the personal needs of the incapacitated person. Those powers which may be granted include, but are not limited to, the power to:
1. determine who shall provide personal care or assistance;
2. make decisions regarding social environment and other social aspects of the life of the incapacitated person;
3. determine whether the incapacitated person should travel;
4. determine whether the incapacitated person should possess a license to drive;
5. authorize access to or release of confidential records;
6. make decisions regarding education;
7. apply for government and private benefits;
8. (i) for decisions in hospitals as defined by subdivision eighteen of § 2994-a of the public health law, act as the patient's surrogate pursuant to and subject to Article 29 of the public health law, and (ii) in all other circumstances, to consent to or refuse generally accepted routine or major medical or dental treatment, subject to the decision-making standard in subdivision four of § 2994-d of the public health law;
9. choose the place of abode; the choice of abode must be consistent with the findings under section 81.15 of this article, the existence of and availability of family, friends and social services in the community, the care, comfort and maintenance, and where appropriate, rehabilitation of the incapacitated person, the needs of those with whom the incapacitated person resides; placement of the incapacitated person in a nursing home or residential care facility as those terms are defined in § 2801 of the public health law, or other similar facility shall not be authorized without the consent of the incapacitated person so long as it is reasonable under the circumstances to maintain the incapacitated person in the community, preferably in the home of the incapacitated person.
(b) No guardian may:
1. consent to the voluntary formal or informal admission of the incapacitated person to a mental hygiene facility under article nine or fifteen of this chapter or to a chemical dependence facility under article twenty-two of this chapter;
2. revoke any appointment or delegation made by the incapacitated person pursuant to sections 5-1501, 5-1601 and 5-1602 of the general obligations law, sections two thousand nine hundred sixty-five and two thousand nine hundred eighty-one of the public health law, or any living will.