Advance Health Care Directives in East Los Angeles, Los Angeles County

Begin with the decision your document should capture

Before drafting, consider which treatment preferences you want to communicate and what circumstances or questions would help make those preferences clear. The purpose is to put your health-care wishes in writing—not to ask a financial representative to make medical decisions. A financial power of attorney serves a different, financial role.

A written instruction and the choice of a decision-maker are separate parts of the planning conversation. If your immediate question is who should make health-care decisions for you, focus on selecting and discussing a health-care agent. If your priority is explaining the care you would want, focus on the instructions you want the directive to express.

• What health-care preferences do you want the document to communicate?
• What context would help someone understand those preferences?
• Are you addressing written wishes, identifying a decision-maker, or both?

Make your preferences concrete

General statements can leave room for different interpretations. As preparation, write down the care-related questions you want to resolve and the preferences you would want a decision-maker or care team to understand. These notes are a way to organize your thinking, not a legal or medical checklist and not a substitute for advice from a health-care professional.

For example, imagine you want to express preferences about treatment in a particular situation but have not decided who should speak for you. That example illustrates why the two choices should not be treated as interchangeable: you can identify the questions about your written instructions separately from the question of whom you trust to make decisions. An advance health care directive can address wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions.

Gather records that help clarify what you mean

Collect any existing advance health care directive or other planning document you want to review, along with notes about the preferences you want to express. If you have a financial power of attorney, keep it identifiable as a separate document: its role is financial, not the health-care role described by an advance health care directive.

Think about who may need to know where your directive is kept. Preparing the document and keeping it accessible are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. The California Secretary of State maintains an Advance Health Care Directive Registry; registration information is not the same thing as preparing the directive itself.

• Bring existing documents you want considered, rather than relying on memory alone.
• Note where the current document is kept and who may need to find it.
• List any preferences or questions that remain unclear.

Plan for access as well as content

A document can only communicate your wishes to the people who can locate and consult it. Consider how the people who may need it will learn that it exists and where it is kept. California Courts distinguishes preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible from registering information about an executed directive.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one physical office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California, including for people in East Los Angeles. A conversation can help you organize the choices you want your written instructions to address and identify questions about access to the document. This is general legal information, not individualized medical advice.