Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Monterey Park

Plan for your wishes and your decision-maker

An advance health care directive can serve two related purposes: expressing your health-care wishes and identifying someone to make health-care decisions. Consider each purpose on its own. The written instructions communicate what matters to you; the named person has a decision-making role in health care. Naming someone does not, by itself, describe every preference you may want that person to know.

Start with questions for yourself: What would you want someone to understand about your health-care preferences? Who would you want identified to make health-care decisions? What would help that person understand the values behind your preferences? These are planning questions, not a substitute for medical guidance or a statement about what treatment is right for you.

• Separate the instructions you want recorded from the choice of person you want to identify.
• Think about how you would explain your preferences to that person in ordinary language.
• If you are unsure what a medical term or treatment may mean, ask a qualified health-care professional.

Know which responsibilities the document addresses

The health-care role and the financial role are different. 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 financial role. Do not assume that identifying a health-care decision-maker also authorizes that person to manage money or other financial matters.

A useful way to test your plan is to ask, “What do I want this person to be able to address, and what would require a separate document or further authority?” If you want help with both health-care decisions and financial matters, make each goal explicit when discussing your planning. The documents should not be treated as interchangeable simply because they name the same person.

• Identify whether your concern is health-care preferences, health-care decision-making, financial matters, or more than one of these.
• Ask how the documents you are considering relate to each goal.
• Do not infer financial authority from a health-care designation.

Make your preferences usable when they are needed

Preparing a directive and making its information findable are separate practical tasks. Consider who should know that a directive exists and where the relevant information can be located. A document that cannot readily be found may be harder for the people who need to refer to it.

California provides a registry for information about an executed advance health care directive. Registering information is distinct from preparing the directive and keeping the relevant documents accessible. Treat these as separate steps in your planning rather than assuming one automatically takes care of the other.

• Make a private list of where you keep the directive and who should know how to find it.
• Consider whether registering information about an executed directive is relevant to your plans.
• Review your arrangements if your preferences or the person you identified change.

Discuss the plan 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 for people in Monterey Park. A practical first step is to gather the questions you want answered about written health-care preferences, the person you identify for health-care decisions, and any separate financial-planning concern. You can then discuss which planning documents address those goals and what information should be easy for the people involved to locate.