Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Biggs

Start with the purpose of the document

An advance health care directive can express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Think of these as two separate questions: what instructions do you want recorded, and who do you want to make decisions? You may want to focus on one, the other, or both.

A living will is often discussed in connection with written treatment preferences. When considering this service, clarify whether your main goal is to put preferences in writing, identify a decision-maker, or address both in an advance health care directive. The distinction matters because written instructions and choosing someone to act are not interchangeable.

• Consider which health-care wishes you want a document to communicate.
• Separately consider whether you want to identify someone to make health-care decisions.

Compare the options by what they do

If your priority is communicating your wishes, an advance health care directive can provide a place to express them. If your priority is having another person make health-care decisions, the directive can also identify someone for that role. Discuss whether one document can address both priorities in your situation, rather than assuming that recording preferences automatically selects a decision-maker.

A financial power of attorney serves a different role: it concerns financial decisions, not the health-care function described here. If you are trying to plan for both health-care and financial matters, keep those purposes distinct when discussing documents. One does not substitute for the other.

Plan for access as well as content

A document can only communicate your wishes if it is available to the people who may need to refer to it. As a practical preparation step, consider where you will keep relevant documents and how the people who may need them can locate them. You can also make a list of questions about how to keep the information accessible.

Preparing and keeping accessible the relevant documents is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration concerns information about a directive; it is not the same task as deciding what your document should say or ensuring that the document itself can be found. Ask which approach fits your needs and how each affects access to the information.

• Before a planning conversation, note where related documents are kept and who may need to know how to locate them.
• Ask whether registering information about a directive would help with your access plan, separately from preparing and storing the document.

Prepare for a focused conversation

Before discussing a directive, write down the treatment preferences you want to communicate and any points you are unsure about. You do not need to resolve every question in advance; a short list can help distinguish your priorities from questions about how a document communicates them.

If you are also considering a person to make health-care decisions, treat that as a separate planning question. Consider what you want to discuss about that role, without assuming that selecting someone determines your written preferences. For medical questions about treatment, consult an appropriate health-care professional.

Planning with Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California, including to people in Biggs. A planning conversation can help you clarify whether your focus is written health-care preferences, identifying a decision-maker, document access, or a combination of these goals.