Tennessee Code 32-11-107 – Effective date of declaration – Subsequent declarations – Incapacitated declarants
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 32-11-107
- Declarant: means an individual who declares a living will under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 32-11-103
- Physician: means any person licensed or permitted to practice medical care under title 63, chapters 6 and 9. See Tennessee Code 32-11-103
- Terminal condition: means any disease, illness, injury or condition, including, but not limited to, a coma or persistent vegetative state, sustained by any human being, from which there is no reasonable medical expectation of recovery and that, as a medical probability, will result in the death of the human being, regardless of the use or discontinuance of medical treatment implemented for the purpose of sustaining life, or the life processes. See Tennessee Code 32-11-103
A declaration shall be effective from the date of its execution until revoked in a manner prescribed by this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent a declarant from reexecuting a declaration at any time in accordance with the formalities of this chapter, including reexecution after a diagnosis of a terminal condition. If the declarant has executed more than one (1) declaration, then the latest declaration known to the attending physician shall take precedence. If the declarant becomes comatose or if the declarant’s condition renders the declarant incapable of communicating with the attending physician, the declaration shall remain in effect during the comatose condition or until the declarant’s condition renders the declarant able to communicate with the attending physician.