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Health care proxy, power of attorney, MOLST, living will: which is which
Four documents that families mix up, what each one actually does in New York, and which ones a community will ask to see.
2 min readPublished September 15, 2026
Written by Cardinal Care Advisors in Buffalo, New York. Checked against 2 official sources.
Health care proxy
Names one person to make medical decisions if your loved one cannot. New York has a simple state form; it needs two witnesses and no lawyer. Every community and hospital will ask for it. If nothing else on this page gets done, do this one.
Power of attorney
Names someone to handle money and legal matters: bank accounts, bills, selling a house, signing an admission agreement. New York's statutory form changed in 2021; older forms still work but a lawyer should look. A community will want it before admission if the resident cannot sign for themselves.
New York has a simple state form; it needs two witnesses and no lawyer.
MOLST
Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, the bright pink form. It is a doctor's order about CPR and other treatments, signed by a physician or nurse practitioner, meant for people with serious illness. It travels with the person and is honored by ambulance crews. It is not the same as a living will and not everyone needs one.
Living will
A written statement of wishes. New York recognizes it as evidence of what the person wanted, but it does not name a decision maker and is not a medical order. Useful alongside a proxy, not instead of one.
What Cardinal does with them
You upload a copy to your vault once; it is encrypted and shared only with the communities you send an application to. We do not give legal advice. If a document is missing or old, an elder law attorney can help, and we can suggest names.
Why we can say this
We checked this guide against the official pages below. We link only to government agencies and established nonprofits. Each one opens on another website.
- New York health care proxy form (DOH-1430) (opens another site)
The state form, with instructions.
https://www.health.ny.gov/forms/doh-1430.pdf
- MOLST in New York (opens another site)
What it is, who it is for, the form.
https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/patients/patient_rights/molst/
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General information for families in Western New York, written by Cardinal Care Advisors. Not medical or legal advice; a physician, an elder law attorney, or a licensed assessor decides the things that need deciding. Tell us if something here is wrong or out of date: hello@thecardinalgroup.org.