Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for St. Helena Residents
An advance health care directive can put your health-care wishes in writing and identify someone to make health-care decisions. The first step is to clarify what you want your instructions to say; choosing a decision-maker is a separate, related choice. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California.
Start with the decision you want your instructions to convey
Before focusing on a form, consider what you want a person involved in your care to understand about your preferences. Which treatment-related concerns matter most to you? Are there circumstances in which you would want your wishes communicated particularly clearly? These are questions for you to reflect on, not a substitute for medical advice.
A useful preparation step is to write down, in everyday language, the preferences or concerns you want to discuss when preparing your directive. You might note questions about how a preference could be understood in different situations. This can make the conversation more concrete without assuming that one phrase or example will resolve every future decision.
Separate written preferences from choosing an agent
An advance health care directive can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Those are related but distinct functions: one communicates your preferences, while the other identifies a person who may make decisions. Consider whether you want to address both, and what you want the written instructions to communicate.
This page focuses on recording treatment preferences, not on how to choose an agent. If you are considering both parts of a directive, keep the questions separate: what do you want recorded about your care, and whom do you want identified to make health-care decisions? A financial power of attorney serves a different financial role; it is not a substitute for health-care instructions.
Make the instructions useful to the people who may need them
Preparing a document is only part of planning. Relevant documents should be kept accessible to the people who may need them. As a practical step, think through who should know where the directive is kept and how they could locate it when needed. You can also note the questions you want to ask about sharing or storing it.
Registering information about an executed directive is distinct from preparing the directive and keeping the relevant documents accessible. Treat these as separate planning steps rather than assuming that registration itself creates or communicates your preferences. Consider what information you want available and how the people involved in your care would find the document.
Keep health-care planning distinct from financial planning
A health-care directive concerns health-care wishes and decisions. A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial matters. Keeping the purposes clear can help you identify which questions belong in a health-care planning conversation and which belong in financial planning.
A directive can record preferences and identify a health-care decision-maker, but the document’s existence alone does not ensure that the people who may need it can find it. Think about both the instructions you want recorded and the practical plan for making the document accessible.
Prepare for a focused planning conversation
Before a conversation about an advance health care directive, gather any existing health-care planning documents and make a short list of preferences, concerns, and questions. Note who may need to know where the document is kept. These preparation steps can help keep the discussion centered on what you want communicated and how the relevant document will be available.
Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves St. Helena clients virtually from its statewide service area, with one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California. A focused next step is to identify the treatment preferences you want to discuss and whether you also want to address who may make health-care decisions.
Questions to discuss
Does an advance health care directive record preferences, name a decision-maker, or both?
It can do both: an advance health care directive can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Consider the written preferences and the choice of decision-maker as separate questions, even if you address them in the same planning process.
Does registering information about a directive replace keeping the document accessible?
No. Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Consider how the people who may need the document will know where to find it, as well as whether you want to register information about it.
Official resources
General information, not an assessment of your documents or circumstances. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, CA 94945, and offers virtual services across California. A remote consultation does not itself authorize remote signing or a remote court appearance.
