Pasadena Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills

Planning for two different responsibilities

When considering an advance health care directive, separate the question of what you want communicated about your care from the question of who you want identified to make health-care decisions. The directive can address both. Your instructions express your wishes; naming someone addresses who may make decisions. They are not interchangeable, and naming someone does not itself describe your preferences.

This page focuses on recording and making preferences available. If you are still deciding whom to name, treat that as a separate part of your planning conversation. The practical question here is whether the written guidance would help that person and others understand what matters to you.

• What preferences do you want written down?
• Who should be able to find and use that information when it is needed?
• What would you want the named person to understand about your priorities?

Make preferences understandable and useful

Consider the kinds of health-care choices for which you want your wishes to be known, and describe the priorities you want others to understand. You might prepare questions about what quality of life means to you, which personal values should guide decisions, or what you would want discussed with the person named. These are prompts for expressing your own preferences, not medical recommendations.

A helpful way to review a draft is to ask whether someone unfamiliar with your thinking could identify the values you intended to convey. If a statement could be interpreted in more than one way, consider what clarification would make your preference easier to understand. You can also note questions you want to discuss with your health-care providers or the person you have named.

• Write down the preferences and values you want communicated.
• Mark wording that feels unclear or incomplete for further discussion.
• Consider whether the document reflects your current wishes.

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

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and health-care decision-making. A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial decisions. Do not assume that a health-care directive gives someone authority over financial matters, or that a financial power of attorney communicates your treatment preferences.

The distinction matters when planning for practical needs. If you want someone to handle a financial matter, consider that separately from documenting health-care wishes. Likewise, writing preferences in a directive is not the same as choosing the person who will make health-care decisions. Each addresses a different part of the plan.

Plan for access, not just completion

A document can only help people who know it exists and can locate it. Decide where you will keep the relevant information and whom you will tell about its location. Consider sharing a copy or explaining where to find it to the person named and others who may need to know your wishes. Keep your own accessible copy and revisit where it is stored if your arrangements change.

Preparing and keeping the document accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration is not a substitute for ensuring that the people who may need the document know how to locate it. Think through both steps separately when organizing your records.

• Choose a location you can readily access.
• Tell the appropriate people where the document is kept.
• Make a note of any questions about registration or document access for your planning discussion.

Discuss your planning in Pasadena

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 Pasadena. For a planning conversation, consider bringing your current directive if you have one, a list of preferences you want to communicate, and questions about who should be able to find the document. These are practical preparation suggestions, not legal requirements.

A useful next step is to identify what you want your written instructions to convey and where the document will be kept. That makes it easier to focus a discussion on whether your instructions and access plan reflect your intentions.