Medical Power of Attorney in Brazil: Naming Who Decides Your Care

If an accident or illness left you unable to speak for yourself in Brazil, who would make your medical decisions? A medical power of attorney answers that question by naming a person you trust to decide on your behalf. In Brazil this sits within a framework called diretivas antecipadas de vontade (advance directives), and it works differently from what many foreigners expect. This page explains how to appoint a health-care decision-maker who will actually be heard by a Brazilian medical team.

Reviewed by Luciano Oliveira, Esq., LL.M — licensed in Brazil, Texas, and California. Last reviewed June 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice, and it is not medical advice. Only a consultation with a licensed Brazilian attorney, on your facts, can tell you what your situation calls for.

A medical POA decides “who”; a living will says “what”

Two documents are easy to confuse, and most people benefit from having both. A living will (testamento vital) records your own instructions — the treatments you would accept or refuse if you were terminally ill or could no longer communicate. A medical power of attorney does something different: it names a representative to make decisions for you, including in situations your written wishes never anticipated. One states your wishes; the other appoints the person who applies them. If you want to understand the “what,” see our companion page on the living will; this page is about the “who.”

How Brazil treats a health-care proxy

Brazil does not have a dedicated statute for medical powers of attorney. The authority comes instead from a Federal Council of Medicine resolution on advance directives (Resolucao CFM 1.995/2012), together with the constitutional principle of human dignity and the patient’s right to autonomy over their own body. That resolution expressly recognizes that a patient may designate a representative whose decisions the medical team must take into account. It is a real and respected instrument, directed to your doctors and recorded in your medical file, even though it rests on medical-ethics norms and constitutional principle rather than a single dedicated law.

What your proxy can — and cannot — do

Your representative steps in when you cannot decide, and speaks for your known values in the moments your written wishes do not reach. There are firm limits. A Brazilian directive may ask that disproportionate, life-prolonging treatment be limited or withdrawn so that death follows its natural course (ortotanasia), which is permitted. It may never request euthanasia or assisted suicide, which are crimes in Brazil, and a doctor will disregard any instruction that crosses that line. A good medical POA gives your proxy clear guidance and stays well inside those boundaries.

Making it stick in Brazil

For a medical POA to carry weight when it matters, a few practical steps make the difference:

• Put it in a notarized declaration (escritura publica declaratoria) at a Brazilian notary, which records it in the national system so it can be located.
• Name a proxy who is actually reachable in Brazil, or reachable quickly, since decisions happen at the bedside.
• Give a copy to your treating physician or hospital, because the directive is meant to be communicated to the medical team and kept in your record.
• Coordinate it with any home-country health-care proxy so the two do not conflict; a fresh Brazilian document naming a local proxy usually works better at the bedside than a foreign one that needs apostille and translation.

How we help

We prepare the medical POA as part of your Brazilian advance directives, name and empower the proxy correctly, arrange the notarized declaration, and make sure it is consistent with any document you already have at home. We cannot promise that a given hospital will act in a particular way in a particular moment, and we tell you honestly where the limits of a directive lie; what we can do is give you a clear, properly recorded instrument that speaks for you when you cannot.

Book a consultation with a Brazilian attorney

This article is general information only. It is not legal or medical advice, it creates no attorney-client relationship, and it is not a guarantee of any outcome. Your situation depends on the facts, which we would review with you directly.

Frequently asked questions

Is a medical power of attorney legally binding in Brazil?
It is a recognized, respected directive under CFM Resolution 1.995/2012 and the right to autonomy, addressed to your medical team, though it rests on medical-ethics norms rather than a dedicated statute.

Can my US health-care proxy be used in Brazil?
It can be brought in with apostille and sworn translation, but a fresh Brazilian directive naming a locally reachable proxy usually works better when a decision is urgent.

Can my proxy request euthanasia?
No. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Brazil. A directive may only ask that disproportionate treatment be limited (ortotanasia).

Do I need both a medical POA and a living will?
Most people benefit from both: the living will states your wishes, the medical POA names who applies them when your wishes do not cover the situation.

Related: Estate Planning in Brazil for Foreigners · Living Will in Brazil · Financial Power of Attorney in Brazil