Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Fort Bragg Residents

Decide what you want the document to communicate

Before focusing on wording, consider which health-care preferences you want recorded. The practical first decision is what you want others to understand about your wishes if health-care decisions arise. A directive can express health-care wishes, so begin with the preferences you want represented rather than treating the document only as a place to name a decision-maker.

A useful preparation exercise is to write down, in your own words, the preferences or questions you want to address. Think about what would help another person understand your priorities, and note any points you are uncertain about. These notes are preparation, not a substitute for the document or for medical guidance.

• Which wishes do you want the written instructions to convey?
• What questions would help you clarify those wishes before documenting them?
• Which points should be discussed with the person you may name to make health-care decisions?

Keep written instructions distinct from choosing an agent

An advance health care directive can do two things: express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. These functions should not be confused. Written instructions communicate preferences; naming someone addresses who may make decisions. If your immediate concern is choosing that person, treat it as a separate decision rather than assuming that writing preferences settles the question.

This page focuses on documenting treatment preferences, not on how to choose an agent. Consider whether you are ready to address both purposes, or whether you first need to clarify the wishes you want written down. The financial power of attorney is also separate: it serves a financial role, not the health-care role of an advance directive.

Use records and notes to make preferences concrete

A short set of organized notes can make your planning conversation more focused. You might record the preferences you want to communicate, the questions you still have, and the people who should know where the completed document is kept. This is a practical way to prepare; it does not create a legal requirement or resolve medical questions.

Once you have a directive, think about how the relevant document will be kept accessible to the people who may need it. Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is a different task from registering information about an executed directive. Keeping those tasks separate can help prevent registration from being mistaken for the work of documenting your wishes or making the document available.

• Bring your preference notes and questions to a planning discussion.
• Consider who should know where the relevant document is kept.
• Treat document access and any registration of information about an executed directive as separate matters.

Plan for the limits of written preferences

A written directive can express wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions, but those purposes are not interchangeable. If the document records preferences without identifying a decision-maker, it has not addressed that separate function. If you identify someone but have not clarified the preferences you want recorded, the written instructions may not communicate what matters to you.

The next step is to decide which of those issues needs attention first, then prepare the questions and notes that will make the discussion concrete. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. provides virtual services throughout California from its in-person office in Novato.