Advance Health Care Directives in California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo County

Separate treatment preferences from agent selection

A directive can address two related but distinct matters: your health-care wishes and the person you identify to make health-care decisions. This page focuses on preparing to discuss written treatment preferences. Choosing an agent is a separate decision, even though the directive can cover both subjects.

Before a consultation, consider what you want a reader to understand about your preferences. You might write down questions or topics you want to discuss, rather than trying to draft formal instructions on your own. Consider which wishes feel clear to you and where you want guidance about expressing them. These are preparation prompts, not medical advice or a substitute for discussing care with qualified health professionals.

• What health-care preferences do you want to communicate?
• Are there subjects about which you are uncertain or want to ask questions?
• Do you want to discuss the separate choice of who may make health-care decisions?

Gather useful information for a remote consultation

A focused consultation can begin with a clear account of what you hope to accomplish. Make a short list of your preferences, questions, and any terms or sections in an existing document that you do not understand. If you already have an advance health care directive or related planning papers, collect copies for reference. This is a practical preparation step, not a legal requirement.

It can also help to note where relevant documents are kept and who may need to locate them. Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. The California Secretary of State describes an advance health care directive registry; registry information is not a substitute for preparing and keeping the document accessible.

• Bring existing directive paperwork, if any, and note what you want clarified.
• Write down the treatment-preference topics you want to address.
• Consider who should know where your documents are kept.

Keep health-care and financial documents distinct

A financial power of attorney serves a different role from an advance health care directive. The directive concerns health-care wishes and may identify someone to make health-care decisions; a financial power of attorney concerns financial matters. If you have both, identify which questions relate to health care and which relate to finances so the consultation can address the right document.

For example, a person might have questions about how to describe treatment preferences and separate questions about who can handle financial matters. Keeping those topics separate makes the purpose of each document easier to discuss; it does not determine what documents any particular person needs.

Remote planning for California Polytechnic State University

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one physical office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California, and provides virtual services throughout California. Service to California Polytechnic State University is virtual; the firm does not represent that it has a local office there. You can use a remote consultation to discuss your treatment-preference questions and what documents you already have.

A useful next step is to organize your questions and existing paperwork before arranging a consultation by calling 844-492-4600. The goal is to clarify what you want a directive to communicate and what you want to understand about keeping its information accessible.