Who Decides If You Cannot
ORS 127.635 — with no representative or directive, a spouse, then an agreed adult, then the adult children
Where a person who cannot decide has no appointed health care representative and no valid advance directive, life-sustaining procedures may be withheld or withdrawn only if the person is medically confirmed to have a terminal condition, to be permanently unconscious, to face severe and permanent pain from procedures that would not help, or to be in an advanced fatal illness the section describes.
- A guardian authorized to make health care decisions
- The spouse
- An adult the others designate, if none of them objects
- A majority of the adult children who can be located
- Either parent
- A majority of the adult siblings who can be located
- Any adult relative or adult friend
The representative is the first on that list the facility can locate with reasonable effort who is willing to serve. If no one is available, the attending physician or provider directs the decision.
Sources for this section (1)
- ORS 127.635 — Withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Oregon attorney.