Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Tiburon
An advance health care directive can put your treatment preferences in writing and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California, including Tiburon.
Separate your treatment wishes from the choice of an agent
A directive can serve two related but different purposes: expressing your health-care wishes and identifying a person to make health-care decisions. The written instructions describe what you want communicated; the agent is the person identified to make decisions. Considering these roles separately can help you see whether your current plan still reflects both your preferences and your circumstances.
This page focuses on documenting treatment preferences and making the document accessible to people who may need it. If you want to evaluate who should make decisions, that is a separate question from what instructions you want to express.
When an existing directive no longer fits
A change in your circumstances may prompt you to reconsider whether the instructions in your existing plan still say what you mean. Rather than assuming the document remains a good fit—or assuming a change automatically resolves the issue—identify the parts you want to revisit and discuss how to address them.
For example, you may want to review whether your written preferences still reflect your current views, or whether the person named to make decisions remains the person you want in that role. These are separate review questions; revisiting one does not answer the other. The goal is to make your wishes and decision-making arrangements clear in a way that reflects your present circumstances.
Prepare for a focused review
Before a discussion, gather the directive you currently have and note what has changed since you prepared it. You might write down the preferences you want to reconsider, any questions about how those preferences are expressed, and whether the person identified to make decisions is still the person you intend. These are practical preparation steps, not legal requirements.
Also consider who should be able to locate the document if it is needed. Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration does not replace thinking through how the document itself will be available to the people who may need it.
Keep health-care planning distinct from financial authority
A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial matters, not health-care decisions. If your planning includes both health-care preferences and financial arrangements, treat them as separate subjects and make sure each document is being considered for its intended purpose.
A useful next step is to bring your current health-care directive and a short list of the changes or questions you want to address. That creates a concrete starting point for discussing whether the written instructions and the decision-making role still match your circumstances.
Questions to discuss
Does an advance health care directive only state treatment preferences?
It can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. When reviewing a plan, consider the written preferences and the choice of decision-maker as related but distinct questions.
Is a financial power of attorney the same as an advance health care directive?
No. A financial power of attorney serves a financial role, while an advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and decision-making. Consider each document according to its separate purpose.
Official resources
General information, not an assessment of your documents or circumstances. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, CA 94945, and offers virtual services across California. A remote consultation does not itself authorize remote signing or a remote court appearance.
