Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in San Ramon

Separate your instructions from the agent decision

A directive can address two related but distinct matters: expressing your health-care wishes and identifying someone to make health-care decisions. This page focuses on the first. You can prepare to discuss treatment preferences without treating the choice of an agent as the same question.

If you have not decided who you would want to make decisions, note that as a separate topic for the consultation. If you have a person in mind, consider whether your written preferences would give that person useful context. The directive may combine instructions and an identified decision-maker, but one does not replace the other.

Organize the preferences you want to discuss

Before a virtual consultation, write down the health-care preferences you want the document to convey and any questions about how to express them. You might also note circumstances or concerns you want to explain, using your own words rather than trying to draft legal language.

There is no need to resolve every question in advance. A useful preparation list could include preferences you feel confident about, topics where you are uncertain, and any wording you want help understanding. These notes are preparation for a discussion, not medical recommendations.

• Make a short list of preferences you want to communicate.
• Record questions about how written instructions relate to a decision-maker.
• Keep personal notes and any existing directive together for the consultation, if available.

Know what this document does—and what it does not do

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and health-care decisions. A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial matters. If you are also thinking about finances, identify that as a separate planning question rather than assuming the health-care directive addresses it.

Written preferences and identifying a decision-maker are not the same as making information about an executed directive easy to locate. Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Consider how the people who may need the document could learn where it is kept.

Plan for access, not just preparation

A document can be difficult to use if the people who may need it do not know it exists or cannot find it. As a practical step, consider who should know where your directive is kept and what information would help them locate it. You can bring those access questions to the consultation along with your preferences.

Registration information and the directive itself are different things. Thinking through both can help you discuss how to keep the document accessible and whether registering information about an executed directive is relevant to your plans.

Prepare for a virtual consultation

For a focused remote conversation, gather your preference notes, questions, and any existing advance directive you want to discuss. If you are considering a health-care decision-maker, note that as a separate issue; this service focus is on written treatment preferences, not choosing an agent for you.

A helpful next step is to arrange these materials in one place and identify the points you most want clarified. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California from its Novato office.