Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills in Atascadero

Separate your written wishes from decision-making authority

An advance health care directive can serve two related purposes: expressing your health-care wishes and identifying someone to make health-care decisions. These are connected, but they are not identical. Written instructions communicate preferences; naming a person identifies someone who may be asked to make decisions.

As you plan, consider what you want the document to communicate and what you expect the named person’s role to be. A useful discussion starts with questions such as: Which wishes do you most want recorded? What should the person you name understand about your priorities? Who should be able to find the document if it is needed?

Be clear about what the named person’s role does—and does not—cover

The person identified in an advance health care directive is connected to health-care decisions. The directive does not serve the same financial role as a financial power of attorney. If your planning question involves managing financial matters, that is a separate authority to discuss rather than an additional responsibility to assume from the health-care directive.

This distinction helps prevent confusion about who is responsible for what. A health-care directive can express wishes and identify a health-care decision-maker; it is not a substitute for a document that addresses financial decision-making. Consider whether your planning questions are about health-care preferences, health-care decisions, or financial matters, and raise each in the appropriate context.

Make the document findable when it matters

Preparing a directive and keeping it accessible to relevant people are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration does not replace making the document itself available to the people who may need to consult it.

As a practical preparation step, think about who should know where the directive is kept and how the named person could locate it. You can also make a short list of questions for your planning discussion: Who should be able to find the document? What wishes do you want it to communicate? Are there separate financial-planning questions that should be addressed independently?

Keep the focus on communication as well as document preparation. A written preference cannot help the people you intend it for if they do not know where to look; likewise, the document’s health-care role should not be mistaken for financial authority.

Prepare for a focused planning conversation

Before discussing an advance health care directive, write down the treatment preferences you want to communicate and the questions you have about the person you may name. You do not need to resolve every question before starting. Separating preferences, decision-making, and document access can make it easier to identify what remains unclear.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California from its one in-person office in Novato. A next step is to gather your questions and discuss how your health-care wishes and the role of a named decision-maker should be addressed in your planning.