Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Napa Residents

Start with the purpose of written instructions

Written instructions and choosing a health-care decision-maker are related, but they are different planning choices. An advance health care directive can do both: express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make decisions. This page focuses on the written-wishes side of that choice. If you are considering whom to select as an agent, that is a separate question to address alongside the document rather than a substitute for considering what you want communicated.

Before preparing instructions, ask yourself what you want another person to understand about your health-care preferences. You may also want to consider which questions you would like to discuss with your health-care providers or the person you may designate. Those conversations can help you clarify your own preferences; this planning process is not medical advice or a recommendation about a particular treatment.

• What preferences do you want recorded in writing?
• What would you want a decision-maker to understand about those preferences?
• Which questions would help you explain your wishes clearly?

Keep health-care planning separate from financial authority

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and decisions. A financial power of attorney serves a different role: financial matters. One should not be treated as a replacement for the other simply because both involve naming someone or documenting plans. When reviewing your planning, identify which document addresses the decision you are trying to prepare for.

A useful first step is to write down the purpose of each document you already have or are considering. If the question is about health-care preferences, focus on the directive. If it concerns financial decisions, recognize that the financial power of attorney has a distinct purpose. This distinction can help keep conversations and document review focused.

Plan for people to find the information

Preparing a directive and keeping its information accessible are practical parts of planning. Consider who may need to know that the document exists and how they could locate the relevant information. A document that cannot readily be found may be less useful to the people trying to understand your wishes.

California also has a registry for information about an executed advance health care directive. Registering information is distinct from preparing and keeping the relevant documents accessible. The registry should therefore be understood as a separate consideration, not as a substitute for preparing the directive or making sure the people who may need it know how to access it.

• Make a simple list of the people who should know where your planning information is kept.
• Consider how you will keep that information current and accessible to those people.

Discuss the document’s purpose and practical limits

A directive can communicate health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions, but it is not a financial power of attorney. Nor does registering information about a directive itself prepare the document or ensure that the people who may need it can access it. These distinctions matter when deciding what step would address your actual planning concern.

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 for people in Napa. A useful next step is to gather any existing health-care planning documents, note what you want written instructions to communicate, and identify questions about access or the separate role of a decision-maker. That gives you a focused starting point for discussing your planning needs.