Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for El Centro Residents

Separate treatment instructions from the decision-maker question

An advance health care directive can express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. These are related purposes, but they are not the same question: what preferences do you want written down, and who do you want to make decisions? This page focuses on the written preferences and how to make them available, rather than on choosing an agent.

A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions, not health-care decisions. Keeping those functions distinct can help you and your family identify which document addresses a particular concern. A health-care directive should not be treated as a substitute for a document serving a financial purpose.

• Consider whether your priority is to communicate treatment preferences, identify a health-care decision-maker, or address a financial matter.
• If you already have documents, make a simple list of their names and the purpose you understand each one to serve.

Clarify what you want the document to communicate

Before preparing or revisiting written instructions, think about the preferences you want conveyed. The useful starting point is not a general label such as “living will,” but a clear account of what you want the document to communicate about your health care. An advance health care directive is a way to express health-care wishes; the document's purpose is distinct from simply naming someone to decide.

A practical preparation step is to write down questions you want to discuss, such as which preferences matter most to you and whether your written instructions communicate them clearly. These are prompts for a conversation, not medical recommendations. Discuss medical choices with an appropriate health-care professional; legal planning can address how your wishes are expressed in a directive.

• List the preferences or concerns you want to discuss, using your own words.
• Note any parts of an existing document that you or your family find unclear.
• Keep questions about treatment choices separate from questions about who will make decisions.

Make accessibility part of the plan

Preparing a directive and keeping relevant documents accessible are separate from registering information about an executed directive. Registration information does not take the place of preparing the document or making sure the relevant people know where to look for it. A document that cannot readily be located may be difficult for family members to consult when they are trying to understand your recorded wishes.

As a practical step, decide where you will keep your health-care directive and how the people who may need it will learn its location. You can also make a list of any related documents and where they are kept. The aim is to make the information findable, not to assume that a registry entry replaces the document itself.

• Choose a consistent place for the document and tell the appropriate people where it is.
• Check whether the document you have is the one you intend family members to consult.
• If you use a registry, distinguish registering information about an executed directive from preparing and keeping the directive accessible.

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

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 El Centro residents. A planning conversation can focus on what you want your written health-care instructions to communicate, how those instructions relate to a decision-maker, and how your family will locate the document.

A useful next step is to gather any directive or related planning documents you already have and write down the questions or unclear language you want to discuss. This helps keep the conversation centered on your preferences and the practical issue of making the document available to the people who may need it.