Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Roseville Residents

Separate treatment preferences from choosing a decision-maker

A directive can serve two distinct purposes: express your health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Think about each purpose separately. You may have clear preferences about care but still need to consider who you would want to speak for you; or you may have a person in mind and still need to describe your preferences.

This page focuses on the written-instructions side of that conversation. If you are deciding whom to name as your health-care agent, that is a related but separate question. A financial power of attorney also has a different role: it concerns financial matters, not health-care decisions.

Collect your preferences before the consultation

For a remote meeting, start with your own words rather than trying to draft formal language. Note what you want your directive to communicate, what questions you have, and which points feel uncertain or difficult to describe. The goal is to give the consultation a useful starting point, not to arrive with a finished document.

You might organize your notes around the preferences you want discussed, the people you expect may need to know where the document is kept, and any existing health-care documents you want to review. If you already have a directive, have an accessible copy available for the conversation. These are practical preparation steps, not legal prerequisites.

• Write down the treatment preferences you want to discuss, in your own words.
• List questions or uncertainties you want to address.
• Gather any existing directive or related document you want to review.
• Note where important documents are kept and who should know how to find them.

Make the written instructions findable

Preparing a document and keeping its information accessible are separate practical concerns. Consider how the people who may need the directive would know where to look for it. You can make a simple record for yourself of the document’s location and the people you have told, then discuss whether your approach fits your circumstances.

Registration is another distinct matter. California provides a registry for advance health care directives, but registering information about an executed directive is not the same as preparing the document or keeping it accessible. If you are considering the registry, bring your questions to the consultation rather than treating registration as a substitute for a document.

A focused next step for Roseville residents

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, and provides virtual services throughout California, including Roseville. For a remote consultation, bring your notes, any existing directive you want to discuss, and questions about how your written preferences and access plan fit together.

A useful starting question is: “What do I want my written instructions to communicate, and how will the people who may need them find them?” The discussion can then address the document’s role and the practical steps that matter to you.