Supported Decision-making Agreement

The act allows an adult with a disability (adult) to voluntarily enter into a supported decision-making agreement (agreement) with one or more members of the supportive community. Under the agreement, the adult may request the member of the supportive community to do any of the following:

• Provide supported decision-making, including assistance in understanding the options, responsibilities, and consequences of the adult's life decisions, without making those decisions on behalf of the adult;
• Assist the adult in accessing, collecting, obtaining, and understanding information that is relevant to a given life decision from any person; and
• Assist the adult in communicating the adult's decisions to appropriate persons when expressly authorized by the adult.

The agreement may be in any form but is only valid if it contains certain information and is voluntarily signed by the adult and each member of the supportive community in the presence of 2 or more attesting and disinterested witnesses who are 18 years of age or older, or a notary public.

The act requires any person who receives the original or a copy of the agreement to rely on the agreement. A person is not subject to criminal and civil liability and does not engage in professional misconduct for an act or omission if the act or omission is done in good faith and in reliance on an agreement.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)