The Family Health Care Decisions Act became New York Law on March 16, 2010.

The new law covers New York residents (other than the developmentally disabled and the mentally retarded who are covered under a different statute) who lack the capacity to make health care and end of life decisions for themselves, even if such individuals previously had capacity but never expressed their wishes in a health care proxy or living will.  This new law was 17 years in the making.