Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Santa Fe Springs

Start with the decision the document should communicate

Before considering particular wording, identify the decision you want to make: how should your preferences about health care be expressed if you cannot communicate them yourself? An advance health care directive can express health-care wishes as well as identify someone to make health-care decisions. Those are related but distinct functions. This page focuses on making your instructions clear and accessible, rather than on choosing an agent.

A useful starting point is to write down the subjects you want to address and the questions you still have. Keep those notes in your own words. They can help you explain what matters to you and identify topics to discuss with an appropriate health-care professional; they are not a substitute for medical advice.

Use personal records to make preferences concrete

Consider what would help another person understand your wishes rather than guess at them. You might prepare a short note describing the values or priorities you want reflected, together with questions you want to discuss with your health-care professional. If you already have a directive, keep a copy available while reviewing whether it still reflects what you want.

For example, if you want people involved in your care to understand a particular priority, note the question you would want answered and the preference you want to communicate. The example is a preparation aid, not a recommendation about a particular treatment. Discuss medical questions with a qualified health-care professional.

• Write down the preferences or concerns you want to communicate.
• Gather any existing directive so you can compare it with your current wishes.
• Make a practical plan for keeping the relevant document accessible to the people who may need it.

Keep written instructions and agent selection distinct

An advance health care directive may include both health-care wishes and the identification of someone to make health-care decisions. If you are focused on treatment preferences, consider those instructions separately from the choice of a decision-maker so that neither question is overlooked. You do not need to treat a discussion about preferences as a decision about whom to appoint.

A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions, not health-care instructions. Keeping that distinction in mind can help you identify which document addresses the question you are trying to answer.

Make the document findable, not just prepared

Preparing a directive and registering information about an executed directive are distinct steps. Registration should not be confused with preparing the document itself or with making a copy accessible to the people who may need it. Think through where relevant information will be kept and how the people involved in your care could locate it when needed.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, CA 94945, and provides virtual services throughout California, including Santa Fe Springs. A practical next step is to organize your notes and any existing directive, then discuss the questions you want addressed.