Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Mountain House Residents

Compare the documents by the job each one does

An advance health care directive can express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Those are related but distinct functions: written instructions communicate your preferences, while naming someone identifies a decision-maker. Consider which function you want to focus on before deciding whether to change an existing document or prepare one.

A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions, rather than health-care decisions. If you are reviewing several planning documents together, do not assume that naming someone in a financial document answers who should make health-care decisions or records what treatment you want.

• For treatment preferences, ask whether your written instructions express what you want people to know.
• For a health-care decision-maker, consider whom you want identified for that role.
• For financial decision-making, review the financial power of attorney separately.

Decide what you want the written instructions to communicate

Before changing an advance health care directive, consider what health-care wishes you want it to express. The practical question is not simply whether you have a document, but whether the instructions in it still communicate your preferences. If your preferences have changed or the document no longer reflects what you want to convey, that gives you a reason to discuss whether it should be updated.

You can prepare for that discussion by noting, in your own words, which preferences you want the document to communicate and any parts of an existing directive you want to revisit. This is a way to organize your thinking, not a medical recommendation or a requirement.

Keep instructions and choosing an agent distinct

Written treatment preferences and selecting a health-care decision-maker answer different questions, even though an advance health care directive can address both. You might want to revisit the instructions without changing the person identified, or reconsider the person while keeping your written preferences under review. Thinking about the two separately makes it easier to identify what you actually want to discuss.

A useful preparation step is to write down two separate questions: “Do my written health-care wishes reflect what I want to communicate?” and “Do I want to revisit who is identified to make health-care decisions?” You can then focus the conversation on the change, if any, that matters to you.

Plan for access to the document

Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed advance health care directive. Registration is therefore a separate consideration from deciding what the directive should say and making the document available to people who may need it.

As you prepare, consider who may need to know where the document is kept and how they could access it. If you are considering registration, distinguish that question from preparing or updating the directive itself. This practical separation can help you identify whether your next step concerns the document’s content, access to it, or registration information.

Discuss the documents you are considering changing

A focused discussion can begin with the directive you have, if any, the preferences you want it to express, and whether you also want to reconsider the person identified to make health-care decisions. Bring the financial power of attorney into the discussion only if you are also reviewing who handles financial decisions; it serves a different role.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves Mountain House clients virtually from its statewide practice and has its in-person office in Novato. A useful next step is to identify which document or question you want to review first, so the conversation can stay focused on your treatment preferences, decision-maker, or access and registration considerations.