Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Buellton

Separate your instructions from the decision-maker role

A directive can serve two related but distinct purposes: express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Written preferences communicate what matters to you; naming a person assigns that person a decision-making role. One does not replace the other. Consider whether you want to record preferences, name someone, or address both in the same planning document.

If you are considering naming someone, discuss the role with that person before relying on the document to communicate it. A useful conversation can cover how you want your preferences understood, what questions you would want considered, and how the person should approach choices when your written instructions do not address a particular situation. These are planning questions, not a substitute for the document itself.

• Which health-care preferences do you want stated in writing?
• Do you want to identify someone to make health-care decisions?
• What would help that person understand the values behind your preferences?

Know what this document does not do

A health-care directive is not the same as a financial power of attorney. The directive concerns health-care wishes and health-care decisions; a financial power of attorney serves a different financial role. If you want someone to address both kinds of matters, treat them as separate planning questions rather than assuming that a health-care document grants financial authority.

The person identified in a directive is connected to health-care decision-making under that document. Questions about handling money or other financial matters require attention to the separate financial-planning role. When discussing your plans, identify the responsibilities you want addressed and ask which document is relevant to each one.

Make your preferences understandable and accessible

Before preparing or reviewing a directive, consider writing down the preferences you want it to communicate and the questions you want to resolve about naming a decision-maker. You might also note who should know where the document is kept. These are optional preparation steps intended to help you organize your choices, not legal requirements.

Preparing a directive and keeping the relevant document accessible are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. The California Secretary of State offers information about an Advance Health Care Directive Registry. Consider separately whether registry information may help others locate information about your directive; registration is not a substitute for preparing and keeping the document accessible.

• Optionally list the preferences you want to discuss.
• Optionally identify people who should know where the directive is kept.
• Consider document preparation, accessibility, and registry information as separate tasks.

Choose what to discuss before moving forward

A practical starting point is to bring together three questions: What do you want your written instructions to convey? Do you want to identify someone to make health-care decisions? Are there separate financial responsibilities you also want addressed? Keeping these questions distinct can make it easier to see which decisions belong in a health-care directive and which require separate financial planning.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California from its Novato office. If you are in Buellton and want to discuss an advance health care directive or living-will planning, prepare your questions and preferences for a conversation about your goals and the document's purpose.