Advance Health Care Directives in Lucas Valley-Marinwood, Marin County

Separate your instructions from your choice of decision-maker

An advance health care directive can express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. These are distinct functions within the same planning document: one communicates preferences, while the other concerns who may make decisions. This page focuses on preparing treatment preferences; if your main question is whom to select as an agent, that is a separate part of the planning conversation. (California Courts Self-Help; California Secretary of State.)

A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions, not health-care wishes. When collecting existing paperwork, keep financial planning documents separate from health-care documents so the consultation can address the right purpose. (California Courts Self-Help; California Secretary of State.)

Collect the information that explains your preferences

There is no need to arrive with polished legal language. Before the remote meeting, jot down the health-care preferences you want to discuss and any questions about how those preferences should be expressed in writing. The purpose is to make your priorities clear enough to discuss; this is preparation, not medical advice or a recommendation about which treatment to choose. An advance health care directive is a means of expressing health-care wishes. (California Courts Self-Help; California Secretary of State.)

If you already have an advance health care directive or other health-care planning paperwork, gather the copies you can locate and note where the documents are kept. If you have registered information about an executed directive, make a note of that as well. Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is separate from registering information about an executed directive. (California Courts Self-Help; California Secretary of State.)

• Write down the preferences you want to raise, in your own words.
• Gather any existing health-care directive or related planning documents you can find.
• Make a list of questions about how to communicate your preferences and keep the documents accessible.

Make the written instructions useful to the people who may need them

Consider how someone who needs to refer to your preferences would locate the relevant document. Keeping the document accessible and letting the appropriate people know where to find it are practical steps to discuss when planning how your written instructions will be used. The California Courts and Secretary of State distinguish keeping relevant documents accessible from registering information about an executed directive. (California Courts Self-Help; California Secretary of State.)

If you have more than one version or are unsure which document reflects your current wishes, bring or describe what you have rather than assuming that a registration record is a substitute for the directive itself. Use the consultation to clarify what paperwork you have and what questions remain. This is a document-organization suggestion, not a legal requirement.

Plan for a focused remote consultation

For a productive conversation, have your notes and available documents within reach, and be ready to explain which decisions you want the written preferences to address. You can also flag whether your questions concern the wording of treatment preferences, locating existing documents, or the separate question of who may make health-care decisions. An advance health care directive can address wishes and identify a decision-maker; a financial power of attorney serves a different financial role. (California Courts Self-Help; California Secretary of State.)

Lucas Valley-Marinwood is an unincorporated community in Marin County, not a separate firm office. The firm’s physical office is in Novato and virtual services are available throughout California. The Marin County Superior Court provides a probate resource, but that court resource is not a guide to routine health-care planning or proof of venue for any particular matter. (U.S. Census Bureau; Marin County Superior Court.)