Personal delegations

This chapter explores normative arguments–including autonomy and alternative conceptions of welfare–that might justify different types of personal delegation regimes. It considers other normative arguments derived from the traditional legal standards for surrogate decision making: substituted judgment and best interests. The chapter examines how personal delegations would work in practice by discussing durable powers of attorney and guardianship, and reviews the areas of divorce, wills, and health care. The disability rights movement has long argued that assistance is a form of empowerment and a guarantee of control over one’s life and environment. The chapter reviews the legal architecture of delegations in the event of decisional incapacity. The capabilities approach posits that a life worthy of human dignity is one in which a person has the capability to achieve certain functionings that society considers central to the human experience.