Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for San Bruno Residents

Start with the distinction between wishes and authority

An advance health care directive can do two related but different things: express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Those functions are worth considering separately. Written instructions communicate your preferences; naming a decision-maker identifies who may speak for you about health care.

If your main concern is how treatment choices should be communicated, begin by identifying the preferences you want recorded. If your main concern is who should make health-care decisions, consider that as a separate selection. This page focuses on documenting treatment preferences and making the document accessible, rather than on choosing an agent.

The authority question can also help clarify which document you are discussing. A financial power of attorney serves a different role: it concerns financial decisions, not health-care decisions. A health-care directive is not a substitute for that financial authority.

• Ask yourself whether the immediate planning question is what you want communicated about health care, who should make health-care decisions, or who should handle financial matters.
• Keep health-care preferences distinct from financial instructions so that the right document can be considered for the question at hand.

Make your preferences understandable and usable

Before a planning conversation, consider the health-care wishes you want a directive to express. A useful preparation step is to write down the questions or preferences you want to discuss, in your own words. You might also note anything you are unsure about so the discussion can focus on what you want the document to communicate.

Keep that preparation focused on your preferences rather than trying to turn it into medical instructions. The document’s purpose is to express health-care wishes and identify decision-making authority; it does not replace a conversation with a health-care professional about medical questions.

It can also help to consider who may need to locate the document if it becomes relevant. A directive that cannot readily be found may be harder for others to consult. Think about how the relevant people would know where the document is kept and how they could access it.

• Prepare a short list of treatment preferences and questions for discussion.
• Consider how the people who may need the directive would learn where it is kept.
• Keep health-care planning materials separate from financial power-of-attorney documents.

Plan for access as well as preparation

Preparing a directive and keeping the relevant document accessible are practical steps distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration concerns information about a directive that has already been executed; it is not a replacement for preparing the document or ensuring that it can be found.

As you organize your planning materials, consider both questions: where will the document be kept, and how will the people who may need it know how to access it? The answer may influence what you do next to make the document easier to locate. Do not assume that recording information about a directive means the document itself has been prepared or made available.

• Identify where the directive will be kept and who should know how to find it.
• Treat registration information and access to the document itself as separate considerations.

Discuss your planning questions with the firm

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California, and provides virtual services throughout California, including for San Bruno residents. You can prepare for a conversation by bringing your list of health-care preferences and questions, along with any existing planning documents you want to discuss.

A helpful starting point is to explain whether you are focused on recording treatment preferences, identifying who may make health-care decisions, or making an existing directive easier to locate. If you also have questions about financial authority, identify those separately. This helps keep the discussion centered on the document and decision that match your concern.