North Carolina § 122C-4 - Use of phrase "client or the legally responsible person".

§ 122C-4. Use of phrase "client or the legally responsible person".

Except as otherwise provided by law, whenever in this Chapter the phrase "client or the legally responsible person" is used, and the client is a minor or an incompetent adult, the duty or right involved shall be exercised not by the client, but by the legally responsible person. Except as otherwise provided by law, whenever in this Chapter the phrase "client or the legally responsible person" is used, and the client is an incapable adult, the duty or right involved shall be exercised by a health care agent named pursuant to a valid health care power of attorney, if one exists, or by the client as expressed in a valid advance instruction for mental health treatment, if one exists. If no health care power of attorney or advance instruction for mental health treatment exists, the legally responsible person for an incapable adult who has not been adjudicated incompetent under Chapter 35A of the General Statutes shall be one of the persons listed in subdivisions (3) through (7) of subsection (c) of G.S. 90-21.13, to be selected based on the priority order indicated in said subdivisions (3) through (7). History (1985, c. 589, s. 2; 2018-33, s. 2; 2019-240, s. 26(b).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2018-33, s. 46, made the amendment of this section by Session Laws 2018-33, s. 2, effective October 1, 2019, and applicable to proceedings initiated on or after that date. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2018-33, s. 2, substituted "the legally" for "his legally" in the section catchline; designated the previously existing provisions as subsection (a), and substituted "the legally" for "his legally" in the middle; and added subsection (b). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2019-240, s. 26(b), effective November 6, 2019, in subsection (b), in the first sentence, deleted "who has not been adjudicated incompetent under Chapter 35A of the General Statutes" preceding "the duty" and deleted "not by the client but" following "be exercised." Opinions of Attorney General Right to Choose Attorney. - A minor client who is receiving treatment or habilitation from a 24-hour facility, as that term is defined in G.S. 122C-3(14) g, does not have the right to choose at his or her own expense or the expense of his or her legally responsible person, an attorney of the minor client's choice. The legally responsible person is the only one who can choose an attorney for the minor client unless the minor is over the age of 16 and emancipated. See opinion of Attorney General to C. Robin Britt, Sr., Secretary, Department of Human Resources, - N.C.A.G. - (December 20, 1995).