Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Trinidad, CA

Focus the conversation on your written preferences

An advance health care directive can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. This page focuses on preparing to discuss the wishes you want expressed in writing. If you also want to discuss who may make health-care decisions, note that as a separate topic for the conversation; choosing a person and describing preferences are different matters to consider.

A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions. If you have that document, you may note it among your existing planning papers, but it does not express health-care wishes.

Gather notes before a remote consultation

You do not need to arrive with polished legal language. A short list of points you want to discuss can help make the conversation more focused. These are optional preparation ideas, not required answers or legal prerequisites.

Consider writing down what matters to you when health-care decisions are being considered, any preferences you want to communicate, and questions about how to put those wishes into a directive. If some preferences are uncertain, make a note of that rather than trying to resolve every question in advance.

• Set aside any existing advance health care directive you want to discuss.
• Make a brief list of questions, priorities, or concerns about expressing your wishes.
• Note where you keep relevant documents and who currently knows how to find them.
• If you want to discuss identifying a decision-maker as well, record that question separately from your notes about written preferences.

Think about how the document can be found

As part of preparing, consider where you keep relevant planning documents and who may need to know where they are. You can bring those practical details to the consultation along with your questions about the preferences you want to express.

Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed advance health care directive. If registration is a question you want to raise, include it in your notes; it is a separate subject from discussing the wording of your preferences.

Use the discussion to identify what you want recorded

A useful starting point is to describe, in your own words, the preferences you want the document to communicate and the questions you still have. You can also clarify whether you want to discuss identifying someone to make health-care decisions. An advance health care directive can address health-care wishes and identify someone for that decision-making role.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California, and provides virtual services throughout California, including for people in Trinidad. For a remote consultation, gather your notes and any existing directive you want to discuss. The planning conversation concerns documenting health-care wishes; it does not determine which medical choices are right for you.