Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in South San Francisco

Separate treatment preferences from the decision-maker’s role

Before relying on a directive, consider what you want the document to communicate and who may need to use it. A directive can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make decisions, but writing preferences is not the same as selecting a person for that role. Clarifying both helps avoid assuming that one part answers every question.

Focus your written preferences on the kinds of care or situations you want to address. Separately, consider whether the person identified to make decisions understands your priorities and can refer to the document when needed. This page focuses on communicating treatment preferences; choosing an agent is a separate decision.

Clarify what the document does—and what it does not do

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and decisions. It does not serve the same purpose as a financial power of attorney, which has a financial role. If a family member needs to handle financial matters, do not assume that health-care instructions authorize that person to do so.

A practical question to discuss is whether your written preferences give enough context for another person to understand what matters to you. For example, if a preference depends on a particular circumstance, consider whether that circumstance is clear in the document. This is a preparation prompt, not medical advice or a substitute for a conversation with a qualified health-care professional.

Make the document findable when it may be needed

Preparing a directive and keeping it accessible are separate from registering information about an executed directive. Registration is not a substitute for making sure the people who may need the document know where to find it. Consider telling your chosen decision-maker and relevant family members where the document is kept, and revisiting that plan if its location changes.

Before relying on a document, ask: Who knows where the current copy is? Can the person expected to make decisions locate it? Do the written preferences and the person’s understanding of your wishes fit together? These practical checks help address the gap between having instructions and making them available.

• Gather any existing health-care directive and note where the current copy is kept.
• Identify the people who may need access and decide how you will let them know where to find it.
• Write down questions about unclear preferences or the relationship between written instructions and the decision-maker’s role.

Discuss your planning questions with the firm

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients from its Novato office and virtually throughout California. If you are preparing or reviewing health-care planning documents, bring your questions about what your written preferences should communicate, how they relate to the person making decisions, and how the document will be accessible when needed. The firm can discuss your planning questions without treating health-care instructions as financial authority.