Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Colton Residents

Start with the decision you want the document to communicate

Before focusing on document details, consider what you want your written instructions to say about your health-care wishes. An advance health care directive can express those wishes. It can also identify someone to make health-care decisions for you. These are related but distinct functions: written instructions communicate your preferences, while selecting a person identifies who may make decisions.

This page focuses on recording and sharing treatment preferences, not on choosing an agent. If you are deciding whom to name, that is a separate planning question. You can consider the two topics together, but do not assume that naming someone by itself records the instructions you want that person to know.

• Ask yourself what preferences you want recorded, rather than beginning with a form.
• Keep the question of who may make decisions separate from the question of what wishes you want communicated.

Make your preferences concrete before preparing documents

A useful preparation step is to write down the questions you want to resolve and the preferences you want to discuss. For example, you might note what matters most to you when considering health care, what concerns you have, and which points you want clarified. These notes are a way to organize your own thinking, not a legal checklist or a substitute for medical advice.

If a preference depends on understanding a particular treatment or health circumstance, consider asking an appropriate health-care professional to explain it. The legal document can communicate your wishes, but deciding what treatment is medically appropriate is not the purpose of this planning discussion.

Bring any existing directive or related planning papers you want to compare, along with your notes and questions. Having the current wording available can make it easier to identify what you want to retain, clarify, or change. This is a practical preparation suggestion, not a rule about what records you must have.

Keep health-care instructions distinct from financial authority

An advance health care directive addresses health-care wishes and may identify a person to make health-care decisions. A financial power of attorney serves a different role: it concerns financial decisions. One document should not be treated as a substitute for the other simply because both involve choosing someone to act or speak on your behalf.

When reviewing your planning, identify the purpose of each document and the decisions it addresses. If your goal is to communicate health-care preferences, focus on the directive’s instructions. If you also need to plan for financial decisions, recognize that as a separate issue and discuss it separately.

Make the document accessible to the people who may need it

Preparing a directive and making its information accessible are separate practical steps. Consider who may need to know that the document exists and where it can be found. Keep the relevant document information available to the people who may be involved in your care, and think about how they would locate it when needed.

California also provides a registry for advance health care directive information. Registration is distinct from preparing the document and keeping it accessible; it is not a replacement for having the relevant information available to the people who may need it. Consider what sharing and record-keeping approach fits your circumstances, and ask questions about any step you do not understand.

• Gather your current directive and notes about preferences or questions.
• Decide how the people who may need the document will know where to find it.
• Ask about the difference between keeping a document accessible and registering information about an executed directive.