Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Buena Park Residents

Start with the decision that changes your next step

Ask whether your immediate priority is to record treatment preferences, choose a person to make health-care decisions, or address both. An advance health care directive can serve both purposes. If you already have a person in mind, the remaining work may focus on stating your wishes and making the document accessible. If you are unsure what you want recorded, begin by identifying the questions you would like to resolve before finalizing instructions.

Choosing an agent and writing treatment preferences should not be treated as interchangeable. Naming someone addresses who may make health-care decisions; written instructions communicate your wishes. Consider whether the person who may be asked to act has enough information to understand those wishes. This page focuses on documenting and sharing preferences, not on how to choose an agent.

• What health-care wishes do you want written down?
• Have you identified someone to make health-care decisions, or is that still an open question?
• Who should know where the directive is kept?

Keep health-care instructions separate from financial authority

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and health-care decisions. A financial power of attorney serves a different role: it concerns financial matters, not health-care instructions. Having one document does not, by itself, address the purpose of the other.

For example, if a person wants a trusted individual to handle financial matters and also wants to record health-care preferences, those are separate planning questions. Identify which decisions each document is meant to address rather than assuming that one form covers both. This distinction helps you focus on the document relevant to the decision at hand.

Make the directive useful by planning for access

Writing preferences is only part of the practical task. Think through who may need to locate the directive and how they would know where it is. You can prepare by making a simple list of the people who should know its location and noting any questions you want to resolve about sharing it. These are organizational steps, not a substitute for completing the document.

Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration concerns information about a directive that has already been executed; it is not the same step as expressing wishes or identifying an agent. Consider access and registration as separate questions, and do not assume that one automatically accomplishes the other.

• Write down where the directive will be kept.
• List the people who should know how to find it.
• Note whether you want to ask about registering information concerning an executed directive.

Prepare to discuss the preferences you want recorded

Before seeking help with a directive, make a private list of the health-care preferences you want to discuss and any points that remain uncertain. You may also note whether you are deciding only about written wishes or also need to address who may make decisions. This preparation can help keep the discussion focused without presuming what choices are right for you.

The purpose is to clarify your own questions, not to rely on a general page for medical direction. If you are uncertain about a treatment choice, discuss that question with an appropriate health-care professional. A legal-planning discussion can then focus on how your preferences and decision-making arrangements are documented.

Planning support for Buena Park

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, CA 94945, and provides virtual services statewide, including for Buena Park residents. A useful next step is to identify whether you want to document health-care wishes, identify a decision-maker, or address both, then gather the questions you want answered about access to the directive.