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D.C. Code § 7-626

Competency and intent of declarant

Feb. 25, 1982, D.C

(a) The desires of a qualified patient shall at all times supersede the effect of the declaration.

(b) If the qualified patient is incompetent at the time of the decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures, a declaration executed in accordance with § 7-622 is presumed to be valid. For the purpose of this subchapter, a physician or health facility may presume in the absence of actual notice to the contrary that an individual who executed a declaration was of sound mind when it was executed. The fact of an individual’s having executed a declaration shall not be considered as an indication of a declarant’s mental incompetency.

Official source: D.C. Law Library (Council of the District of Columbia). Reproduced from public-domain District of Columbia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.