Advance Health Care Directives in Cottonwood, Kern County

Separate what you want to say from who may decide

A directive can address both your health-care wishes and the person who may make health-care decisions. Those are related but distinct choices. This page focuses on expressing preferences and planning for access to the document; choosing a health-care decision-maker is a separate topic to consider.

A financial power of attorney has a different role involving financial decisions. It is not a substitute for communicating health-care wishes. If you already have planning documents, bring their names or copies so you can identify what each one addresses rather than assuming one covers the others.

Collect useful information before a remote consultation

Start with your own words. Write down the preferences you want to discuss, the questions you have, and the points you have not decided. You do not need to turn those notes into formal instructions before a consultation; they are a way to make the conversation more focused.

Gather any existing advance health care directive or other document you believe expresses your health-care wishes. If you cannot locate a copy, note where you last kept it or who may know where it is. Consider who should be able to find the document and what you want those people to know about its location.

• List the topics or circumstances you want to address.
• Bring or identify any existing health-care documents you can locate.
• Mark preferences that feel settled separately from questions you want to discuss.

Plan for access, not just wording

Preparing a directive and keeping relevant documents accessible are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Think through where you expect to keep the document, who should know where it is, and how the people who may need it could identify the version you intend them to use.

California has an Advance Health Care Directive Registry. Registry information is a separate consideration from preparing and keeping the document accessible. If you want to ask about the registry, include that in your access questions; also consider how the people who may need your wishes will find the document itself.

Use the consultation to clarify the document’s purpose

A focused discussion can address what you want the directive to communicate, which preferences need further thought, and how you want the document made available. Keep questions about recording treatment preferences distinct from questions about selecting a health-care decision-maker. You can raise both without treating one as a substitute for the other.

For a virtual consultation, have your notes, any existing directive you can locate, and your access questions ready. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. provides virtual services throughout California from its single physical office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato. Cottonwood is within that statewide service area; it is not a separate firm office.

• Identify who you want to know where the directive is kept.
• Write down any wording or access questions you want to raise.
• Keep decision-maker selection as a distinct discussion if it is also on your mind.

Keep health-care preferences personal and clear

General information cannot determine which health-care choices are right for you. Consider what you want your document to express, what you still need to resolve, and how to make your wishes findable. A consultation can help you discuss how those preferences may be expressed in a planning document, without treating the document as a substitute for deciding who may make health-care decisions.