Your instructions or power of attorney may be revoked or rewritten at any time while you have capacity.

You don't need to revoke your instructions in writing. You can do it in any way that makes it clear that you mean to revoke them. If you don't want confusion, you should revoke the instructions in writing, and give a copy of the revocation to everyone you gave the instructions to.

A power of attorney may be revoked only in writing, with your signature, or by personally telling the supervising health care provider that you have revoked the power of attorney.

There is some confusion in Maine about whether you can continue to revoke your instructions and power of attorney even after you are incapacitated. The law itself reads that you need to have capacity to revoke them. The form that is included in the law says you can revoke them at any time. It is safest to assume that the statement in the law is the correct one, and that you can only revoke your instructions or power of attorney while you have capacity. This is what courts in other states that have similar laws have decided.

If you are a person who wants to be able to revoke your instructions right up to the latest possible time, we suggest you protect yourself by limiting how the instructions take effect. See the section "How Will I Be Determined Incapacitated?" (p. 6) for information on how to do this.

If your instructions are being carried out and you have changed your mind about them after being determined incapacitated by your doctor, you or your agent can still file a request with the probate court asking that the instructions not be honored.