Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Claremont Residents

Start with what has changed

An advance health care directive can express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. If an existing plan no longer matches your circumstances, begin by identifying the mismatch: perhaps your priorities have shifted, or the instructions no longer describe the choices you want communicated.

Treat this as a review of the written guidance you want available—not as a reason to assume that an old document automatically reflects your current wishes. Consider what you would want a person making decisions for you to understand, and which preferences you want stated in writing.

• Which treatment preferences in the current document still reflect your wishes?
• What has changed since you prepared it, and what do you want the written instructions to say now?
• Who should be able to locate and consult the relevant document when it may be needed?

Separate your instructions from the decision-maker question

Written treatment preferences and choosing someone to make health-care decisions are related, but they are distinct questions. An advance health care directive can address both: it can communicate your wishes and identify a decision-maker. Reviewing the instructions does not, by itself, answer whether the person identified still fits your circumstances.

If you are revisiting the plan, consider each part separately. First, clarify what you want the document to communicate about your care. Then consider whether the person named to make decisions remains the person you want in that role. This page focuses on the written preferences; the choice of decision-maker deserves its own careful consideration.

Keep health-care planning distinct from financial authority

A financial power of attorney serves a different role: it concerns financial decisions, rather than expressing health-care wishes. If your broader planning has changed, do not treat a financial document as a substitute for written health-care instructions. Consider separately whether each document still addresses the decisions it is meant to cover.

Make the current document findable

Useful instructions can only help the people who may need them if those people can locate the relevant document. As a practical preparation step, identify where the current directive is kept and who should know how to find it. If you have revised your preferences, make clear which document you want people to consult so an earlier version is not mistaken for your current guidance.

Keeping the document accessible is separate from registering information about an executed directive. Registration information is not the same thing as preparing or keeping the directive itself available. Consider which of those steps you have taken and what information the people close to you would need to locate the document.

Prepare for a focused review

Before discussing an outdated plan, gather the directive you currently have and note the specific passages or preferences that no longer fit. A short list of questions can help keep the conversation practical: what do you want the document to communicate, who needs to be able to find it, and do you also want to revisit the person identified to make decisions?

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. can discuss advance health care directives and living wills with clients in Claremont through virtual services. A focused next step is to bring your current document and your notes about what has changed to a planning conversation.