SB776

SECTION 1. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING AGREEMENT FOR QUALIFIED ADULTS

§ -1 Definitions. As used in this chapter:

"Adult" means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older, or an emancipated minor.

"Aging adult" means a person who is sixty-five years of age or older.

"Assist" means helping a qualified adult consider the advantages and disadvantages of a decision and understand the possible outcomes of making that decision.

"Disability" means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities or a record of such an impairment.

"Member of the supportive community" means a person whom the qualified adult has identified, whom the qualified adult trusts to engage in the supported decision-making process, and who understands the qualified adult's desires and personal values.

"Mentally ill adult" means an adult who has a psychiatric disorder or other disease that substantially impairs the adult's mental health and necessitates treatment or supervision.

"Qualified adult" means an adult with a disability, a mentally ill adult, or an aging adult.

"Supported decision-making" means a process where a qualified adult has made or is making decisions by using friends, family members, professionals, or other people the qualified adult trusts to:

(1) Help understand the issues and choices;

(2) Answer questions;

(3) Provide explanations in a language the qualified adult understands;

(4) Communicate the qualified adult's decision to others, if necessary and if specifically requested by the qualified adult; or

(5) Facilitate the exercise of decisions regarding the qualified adult's day-to-day health, safety, welfare, or financial affairs.

"Supported decision-making agreement" or "agreement" means a voluntary agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter between a qualified adult and one or more members of the supportive community.

§ -2 Supported decision-making agreement; term. (a) A qualified adult may voluntarily, without undue influence or coercion, enter into a supported decision-making agreement with one or more members of the supportive community; provided that the supported decision-making agreement shall not adversely affect the decision-making authority granted to a court-appointed guardian or court-appointed conservator.

(b) Under the supported decision-making agreement, the qualified adult may request the member of the supportive community to do any or all of the following:

(1) Provide supported decision-making, including assistance in understanding the options, responsibilities, and consequences of the adult's life decisions, without making those decisions on behalf of the qualified adult;

(2) Assist in accessing, collecting, obtaining, and understanding information that is relevant to a given life decision from any person, including but not limited to:

(A) Medical, psychological, financial, educational, occupational, and social decisions;

(B) Treatment records;

(D) Information about how a supportive community is chosen; or

(3) Assist the qualified adult in communicating the qualified adult's decisions to appropriate persons when expressly requested by the qualified adult.

(c) A member of the supportive community shall not be entitled to compensation or other consideration, in cash or in kind, for assistance provided to the qualified adult for the purposes of a supportive decision-making agreement.

§ -3 Access to personal information. (a) The member of the supportive community selected by a qualified adult pursuant to section -2 shall only assist the qualified adult in accessing, collecting, or obtaining information that is relevant to a decision made pursuant to the supported decision-making agreement and only when the assistance is specifically requested by the qualified adult.

(b) If a member of the supportive community assists the qualified adult in accessing, collecting, or obtaining financial or personal information, the member of the supportive community shall keep the information confidential, as requested by the qualified adult.

(c) A member of the supportive community who obtains information pursuant to this section shall only use the information for the specific purposes requested by the qualified adult. Any misuse of information obtained pursuant to this section may subject the member of the supportive community to criminal and civil liability.

§ -4 Supported decision-making agreement; requirements; termination. (a) A supported decision-making agreement may be in any form but shall be valid only if it contains, at a minimum, the following:

(1) The name of the qualified adult;

(2) The name, address, phone number, and electronic mail address of the member of the supportive community, if applicable;

(3) A list of decisions for which the qualified adult requests advice from the member of the supportive community;

(4) A description of the agreement terms, including, at a minimum, the terms under which the member of the supportive community agrees to:

(A) Provide information as requested by the qualified adult;

(B) Respect that the final and ultimate decision is the qualified adult's and not the member of the supportive community's;

(D) Provide the most up-to-date and relevant information to the qualified adult based on all the available and known information the member of the supportive community has;

(5) A notice that any person, as described in section 346‑224(a), who is relying on the supported decision-making agreement and has cause to believe that the qualified adult is being mistreated or abused by the member of the supportive community shall report the alleged mistreatment or abuse to the department of human services; and

(6) The day, month, and year the supported decision-making agreement was entered into.

(b) A supported decision-making agreement shall be signed voluntarily, without coercion or undue influence, by the qualified adult and each member of the supportive community in the presence of two or more attesting and disinterested witnesses who are eighteen years of age or older, or a notary public.

(c) The supported decision-making agreement shall be effective until terminated by either the qualified adult or the member of the supportive community, or by the terms of the agreement. Any party may choose to terminate the agreement at any time by providing written or verbal notice of the termination to all parties to the supported decision-making agreement.

(d) The supported decision-making agreement shall automatically be terminated if:

(1) After investigating a member of the supportive community for mistreatment or abuse of the qualified adult, the department of human services finds that the qualified adult has been mistreated or abused by the member of the supportive community; or

(2) The member of the supportive community is:

(A) Substantiated in a case of mistreatment or abuse of the qualified adult, any other qualified adult, or any vulnerable adult;

(B) Convicted of a crime against a vulnerable adult or in which the member otherwise intentionally caused physical harm to another;

(D) Found to have committed theft in the first, second, third, or fourth degree.

For the purposes of this paragraph, "vulnerable adult" has the same meaning as defined in section 346-222.

(e) A supported decision-making agreement shall not be used as evidence of incapacity of the qualified adult.

(f) The existence of a supported decision-making agreement shall not preclude a qualified adult from seeking personal information on their own without the assistance of the member of the supportive community.

§ -5 Reliance on agreement; limitation of liability. (a) A person who receives the original or a copy of the supported decision-making agreement shall rely on the agreement and its authority to assist as presented.

(b) A person shall not be subject to criminal or civil liability and shall not be deemed to have engaged in professional misconduct for an act or omission if the act or omission is done in good faith and in reliance on a supported decision-making agreement and its authority to assist as presented."

SECTION 2. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	776
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII