Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in El Monte

Decide what you want the document to communicate

Start with the written-instructions part of the planning question. Consider what health-care wishes you want expressed, which preferences you want to communicate, and what questions you would like to resolve before putting those wishes into a document. You do not have to treat the choice of a decision-maker as an answer to those separate questions.

As an optional preparation step, make notes in your own words about the preferences you want to discuss. You might group them by topic or mark points that remain unsettled. The purpose is to make your priorities easier to describe; your notes are not a substitute for an advance health care directive.

A directive can express health-care wishes, but a written document cannot serve as a reason to assume every future circumstance has already been addressed. Focus on the preferences you want to communicate and the questions you want to raise when planning.

• What wishes do you want the document to express?
• Which preferences or questions would you like to make clear?
• Are there topics you have not yet decided how to address?

Treat the decision-maker as a separate choice

An advance health care directive can also identify someone to make health-care decisions. Choosing that person is a separate planning task from writing down your preferences. You may find it useful to consider each task on its own, then think about how the person you identify will understand the wishes you want the document to communicate.

For preparation, you could write down what you want to consider when choosing someone for this role and any questions about the role that you want to discuss. This is an organizing exercise, not a legal test for who should be selected. The key distinction is that the directive may both express wishes and identify someone for health-care decisions, but those functions are not interchangeable.

• Written instructions: What do you want communicated?
• Named person: Whom are you considering for health-care decisions?
• Questions: What would you like clarified about each part of the document?

Keep health-care and financial authority distinct

The person identified in an advance health care directive is identified to make health-care decisions. That designation is not the same as authority to manage finances. A financial power of attorney serves a different financial role, so naming someone in a health care directive should not be treated as giving that person financial authority.

If you are considering the same person for health-care and financial matters, frame those as separate questions. Ask what role each document is intended to address. Do not assume that naming someone for health-care decisions also addresses financial decision-making.

Consider how relevant people can find the document

Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Consider the practical question of who may need to know that the document exists and where it is kept.

As an optional preparation step, list the people you may want to tell about the document’s location and any questions you have about making it accessible. You can also note what you want them to understand about its purpose. These considerations concern access; they are separate from registering information about an executed directive.

Plan your next discussion

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California, and provides virtual services throughout California, including El Monte. A useful starting point is to identify the wishes you want to communicate, the person you are considering for health-care decisions, and any separate questions about financial authority.

You may choose to bring your notes about preferences, questions, and document access to a planning discussion. The next step is to clarify which matters you want the directive to address and which questions belong to a separate financial-planning discussion.