Advance Health Care Directives in Bloomington, San Bernardino County

Compare documents by their purpose

An advance health care directive can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Those are related but distinct functions: one concerns what you want communicated, and the other concerns who may make decisions. Review the document’s contents rather than relying on its title to understand which functions it addresses.

A financial power of attorney serves a different role involving financial decisions. It does not serve the same function as an advance health care directive. If you are reviewing both kinds of documents, consider them separately: the health-care document for health-care wishes and decision-making, and the financial document for its distinct financial role. (California Courts; California Secretary of State.)

• Health-care preferences: What do you want the document to communicate?
• Health-care decision-making: Does the directive identify someone to make decisions?
• Financial matters: Is a separate financial power of attorney relevant to your review?

Choose what to review or change

Start by identifying the concern that prompted your review. If you want different or clearer health-care preferences communicated, focus on what the directive says about your wishes. If your concern is who may make health-care decisions, assess that role separately. If the issue involves financial decisions, review the financial power of attorney as a different document category. One concern does not answer the others.

This comparison is a way to organize questions, not a conclusion about which treatment preferences are right for you or what any particular document should say. You can decide which questions to raise by comparing the function you need with what your current documents actually address.

• Gather the advance health care directive or other document you want to review.
• Note the passages that express health-care wishes, if present.
• Separately note whether the directive identifies someone to make health-care decisions.
• Keep any financial power of attorney separate and identify the financial question it relates to.
• Write down the change you are considering and the specific question you want to discuss.

Consider document access as a separate issue

Preparing and keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed advance health care directive. Registration does not replace reviewing what the directive says or considering how the people who may need it can locate relevant information.

For example, if the document reflects the preferences you want but is difficult for others to find, your immediate question may concern access rather than changing the preferences. If the document is accessible but no longer reflects what you want communicated, the review question is different. These examples illustrate how to sort concerns; they do not determine what action is appropriate for you.

• Consider where the relevant document is kept.
• Think about how a person who may need it could locate it.
• Keep questions about registration separate from questions about the document’s contents and accessibility.

Discuss your document questions virtually

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. is based at 802 Grant Ave in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California, including Bloomington. Bloomington is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County; the firm’s statewide virtual service does not mean it has a Bloomington office. (Census Bureau.)

A practical next step is to gather the documents you want to compare and prepare a short list of questions: Do the written instructions express the preferences you intend? Is the health-care decision-making role addressed? Are you considering a financial power of attorney for a separate financial purpose? A discussion can focus on those document roles and the changes you are considering. General legal information is not individualized legal or medical advice; make treatment decisions with appropriate medical guidance.