Palavras-chave: autonomia; capacidade diminuída; directivas antecipadas; incapacidade; procurador de cuidados de saúde.

Abstract: this article focus attention on the attorney for health care, recently introduced in the Portuguese legal system by Act n. º 25/2012 of 16th July. In this brief analysis we focused on the meaning of this instrument in the context of responses to incompetence and followed the process of acceptance in our system. Also take care of the aspects of the legal system that seem most relevant. We focused in particular on the persons involved, the powers of attorney, their extent and boundaries, the relationship of attorney for health care with other instruments of protection, particularly with living wills and guardianship. Still weave considerations about the form of this proxy and its extinction.