Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Placerville

Separate your written wishes from the person who may decide

A directive can serve two related purposes: expressing your health-care wishes and identifying someone to make health-care decisions. These are distinct functions. The written instructions communicate your preferences; the person you identify is the decision-maker described in the directive.

When preparing, consider each part separately. Ask yourself what you want others to understand about your health-care preferences, then consider who you would want to make decisions when decisions are needed. Naming someone does not, by itself, explain your preferences. Writing preferences does not, by itself, identify the person who may make decisions.

This page focuses on documenting treatment preferences and making the resulting information accessible. Choosing the person to name is an important but separate planning question.

• Written instructions: what you want your health-care wishes to communicate.
• Named decision-maker: who you identify to make health-care decisions.
• Financial authority: a separate role that is not created by an advance health care directive.

Make preferences understandable and useful

Before discussing a document, think about the wishes you want it to express. Rather than starting with formal language, note the concerns or preferences you want people to understand and the questions you would like to discuss. You can then consider how those wishes should be reflected in an advance health care directive.

An example—not a client situation—is someone who wants a family member to understand both their stated preferences and their role as the person identified to make health-care decisions. The written wishes and the decision-maker's role are related, but one should not be treated as a substitute for the other.

A directive records health-care wishes; it is not medical advice. If you are uncertain about the medical implications of a treatment preference, discuss that question with an appropriate health-care professional. The document should communicate your choices, not stand in for that conversation.

• Make a private list of the preferences or concerns you want to discuss.
• Consider whether the document should express wishes, identify a decision-maker, or address both functions.
• Think about who should be able to locate the relevant documents when they may be needed.

Know what the directive does not authorize

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and health-care decisions. It does not serve the separate financial role of a financial power of attorney. If your planning question concerns finances, do not assume that naming someone in a health-care directive gives that person financial authority; that is a different document and role.

This distinction matters when reviewing who may act and for what purpose. A person identified to make health-care decisions is not thereby identified to manage financial matters. Consider those responsibilities separately so that the documents you discuss match the authority you intend to address.

Plan for access as well as preparation

Preparing a directive and keeping relevant documents accessible are practical parts of planning. Consider who may need to know where the document can be found and how its contents can be made available when a health-care decision arises. A document that is difficult for the relevant people to locate may be less useful in practice.

Registering information about an executed directive is distinct from preparing and keeping the document accessible. Registration should not be treated as a substitute for considering who can find the relevant document. When reviewing your plan, address both the document itself and how people who may need it can access it.

• Identify where you plan to keep the relevant documents.
• Consider which people should know how to locate them.
• Keep the access plan in view when you revisit your written preferences.

Start with the decisions you want to clarify

For a planning discussion, bring the preferences or questions you want to address and consider separately whether you also want to identify someone to make health-care decisions. It can help to note who should be able to locate the document. These are preparation suggestions, not legal requirements.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. provides virtual services throughout California from its Novato office. A focused conversation can help clarify whether your priority is expressing health-care wishes, identifying a decision-maker, or understanding the different financial role of a power of attorney.