Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Avalon Residents

Start with the decision you need to document

A useful first question is whether you want to put your own health-care wishes in writing, identify someone to make health-care decisions, or address both. An advance health care directive can do both. Written instructions and choosing an agent are related, but they are not the same choice: one communicates preferences, while the other identifies a person to make decisions.

Before focusing on a particular treatment, consider what you want the document to communicate overall. What matters most to you if you cannot express your wishes? Are there circumstances or priorities you want the people involved to understand? These are personal questions to think through and discuss; they are not medical advice or a substitute for discussing care with your health-care providers.

• If you mainly want your preferences recorded, concentrate on making those wishes clear.
• If you also want a person identified to make health-care decisions, consider that authority separately from the wording of your preferences.

Check whether the question is about health care or finances

The next step can change if your concern is financial authority rather than health-care decisions. An advance health care directive addresses health-care wishes and may identify someone to make health-care decisions. A financial power of attorney serves a different role: it concerns financial matters. A document for one purpose should not be treated as though it addresses the other.

For example, if your concern is who can handle financial matters while you cannot, ask about financial authority rather than assuming health-care instructions address it. If your concern is how your care preferences will be communicated, focus on the directive. When both questions matter, identify them separately so that each is addressed by the appropriate document.

Make the document practical to find

Preparing a directive is only part of the practical task. Consider who may need to know that it exists and how that person could access it when the information is relevant. You might make a simple list of the people who should know where your document is kept and the location you want them to check. This is a preparation suggestion, not a legal requirement.

Keeping the relevant document accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration information does not replace preparing and keeping the document available to the people who may need it. Think through both questions: where the document itself can be found, and whether you want information about it registered.

• Identify the people you want to tell where the document is kept.
• Decide how you will keep that information current if the document’s location changes.

Plan the next conversation

Before seeking help, write down the preferences you want the directive to communicate, any questions about identifying a health-care decision-maker, and whether you also have a financial-authority question. Keeping these topics distinct makes it easier to identify what you want addressed without assuming that one document covers every concern.

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 Avalon. A practical next step is to organize your questions around the purpose of the document and how it will be made accessible to the people who may need it.