Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Santa Barbara

Start with the decision you want the document to address

Written treatment preferences and choosing a health-care decision-maker are related, but they are not the same task. An advance health care directive can include both. You may be reviewing the document because you want to clarify your wishes, reconsider who should speak for you, or address both matters.

Before changing anything, ask yourself: Is my main concern what I want communicated about health care, who I want to make decisions, or whether the relevant document can be found when needed? The answer helps focus the review without treating a change to one part as a substitute for reviewing the other.

Compare the documents by their purpose

An advance health care directive is the document to consider when you want to express health-care wishes or identify someone to make health-care decisions. A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions, not health-care treatment preferences.

That distinction can help prevent a mismatch between your goal and the document you review. If your concern is about how health-care wishes are expressed, a financial power of attorney is not a substitute. If your concern is who may make health-care decisions, consider that question separately from who may handle financial matters.

Review treatment preferences separately from agent selection

If you are reviewing an advance directive, look at its two functions as separate questions. First, does it express the health-care wishes you want communicated? Second, does it identify the person you want to make health-care decisions? A document can address both, but considering them separately makes it easier to identify what you want to discuss or change.

For example, a person may want to revisit written preferences while keeping the same decision-maker, or may want to discuss a different decision-maker without changing those preferences. These are examples of distinct review goals, not recommendations about what any person should choose.

Make accessibility part of the review

Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed advance health care directive. A registry may help with information about an existing directive; it is not the same step as preparing the document or making sure the document itself can be accessed.

As a practical preparation step, note where you currently keep the directive and who may need to know how to find it. You can also gather the directive and any financial power of attorney you are comparing. This makes it easier to discuss the purpose of each document and whether your concern is its content, the person named, or its availability.

Discuss the right scope for a change

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 Santa Barbara. A useful next step is to identify the specific question you want addressed: written health-care preferences, selection of a health-care decision-maker, or access to the document. Bring the documents relevant to that question so the discussion can stay focused on what you want to review.