August 2025 Newsletter
From The Certified Elder Law Attorney's Desk:
It Looks Like It’s Actually Happening:
Delaware’s New Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act Takes Effect September 30, 2025
By: Catherine B. Read Esquire, CELA*
Readers may recall from our March newsletter that the first major overhaul to Delaware’s health-care statutes was signed by the Governor on September 30, 2024, titled the Delaware Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act of 2023 (“DUHCDA”). It is a complete replacement to all of Title 16 Chapter 25, which is Delaware’s current Health-Care Decisions Act. By its terms, the DUHCDA takes effect one year from the date of enactment. That means it becomes effective on September 30, 2025.
The DUHCDA has caused quite a stir. Or, actually, lack of a stir, because most people – including in the health care industry - don’t know about it.
And of those who do know about, almost uniformly no one knows how it will be implemented.
Implementation is a real concern because the DUHCDA changes very practical things, such as who decides decision-making capacity (formerly a physician...