Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Lake Forest

Start with the decision you want documented

The first question is not simply which form to use. Consider what you want another person to understand about your health-care preferences if you cannot communicate them yourself. An advance health care directive can express those wishes, and it can also identify someone to make health-care decisions. These are related functions, but they are not the same decision.

This page focuses on treatment preferences and written instructions. Selecting an agent is a separate planning choice: you may want to consider who could make decisions, while also deciding what guidance that person should have. You do not have to treat a named decision-maker as a substitute for explaining your wishes.

• Which health-care preferences do you want recorded?
• What context would help another person understand those preferences?
• Do you also want the directive to identify someone to make health-care decisions?

Make preferences concrete with relevant records

A useful preparation step is to gather existing records that help you describe your wishes accurately. You might note questions you want to discuss with a health-care professional, identify terms or past recommendations you do not understand, or make a private list of circumstances you want to address. These steps are for organizing your thoughts; they are not a substitute for medical guidance.

Keep the distinction between a preference and its supporting context clear. A record can help you explain what you mean, but it does not itself establish what treatment is appropriate. If you are unsure how a medical term or option applies to you, ask a qualified health-care professional before deciding what language reflects your wishes.

• Gather records or notes that clarify the health-care choices you want to discuss.
• Write down questions and any wording that you want explained.
• Consider who should be able to locate the directive and related information when needed.

Written instructions and an agent serve different purposes

Written instructions communicate your preferences. An identified health-care decision-maker has a different role: the directive can name someone to make decisions. Thinking through both functions can help you decide whether the document should convey only written wishes or also identify a person to act for you.

A financial power of attorney is not a substitute for health-care instructions. It serves a financial role, rather than documenting health-care wishes or identifying a health-care decision-maker. Keeping those purposes distinct can prevent confusion about which document addresses which kind of decision.

Plan for access as well as preparation

A directive can only communicate your preferences to the people who need to know about it if they can locate relevant information. Think about where the document will be kept and who should know how to find it. Review whether your intended decision-maker and other appropriate people know that it exists and where to look.

Preparing a directive and keeping it accessible are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration concerns information about a directive; it does not replace preparing the document or making the relevant information available to people who may need it. Consider these as separate practical steps rather than assuming one accomplishes the other.

Discuss your planning in a virtual consultation

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California. A consultation can help you organize questions about documenting health-care wishes and distinguish those instructions from the choice of a health-care decision-maker.

Before a conversation, consider bringing your questions, any relevant notes, and a short description of what you want the directive to communicate. The useful next step is to identify the preferences you want to clarify and the people who may need access to the resulting document.