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Read. Follow. Verify.Massachusetts establishes default surrogate decision-making process for incapacitated patients without health care proxies
Last action · October 14, 2025: Hearing scheduled for 04/22/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2Sponsor: Cynthia Creem
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What This Bill Would Do
Massachusetts bill S.1047 establishes a legal framework allowing next of kin, friends, or other qualified individuals to make health care decisions for incapacitated adults without a valid or guardian, avoiding court action. The measure sets a descending priority order for surrogates, defines physician evaluation standards, and protects health care providers and surrogates acting in good faith from liability.
Incapacitated patients without advance directives can receive timely medical care and nursing home placement through an authorized family member or friend without requiring a court-appointed guardianship proceeding.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Incapacitated persons
Their medical treatment and care decisions can be made by designated surrogates without requiring court-appointed guardianship proceedings.
Attending physicians
They must evaluate patient capacity, identify available surrogates, and document surrogate selections and exceptions in medical records.
Health care providers and facilities
They are granted legal protection from civil claims and disciplinary action when relying in good faith on decisions made by authorized surrogates.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can serve as a surrogate decision-maker if a patient has no health care proxy?
Can a surrogate admit an incapacitated person to a mental health facility?
How long is a surrogate designation valid?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
5 actions- Oct 14, 2025JointHearing scheduled for 04/22/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2
- Oct 9, 2025SenateCommitteeBill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Senate Ways and Means
- Apr 18, 2025JointHearing scheduled for 04/22/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2
- Feb 27, 2025HouseHouse concurred
- Feb 27, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to the committee on The Judiciary
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Bypassing Court Intervention for Medical Surrogacy
The bill shifts medical decision-making authority for incapacitated patients without advance directives away from mandatory court-appointed guardianships toward structured family and physician hierarchies.
Connected Entities
Sources
malegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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