Advance Health Care Directives in Alum Rock, Santa Clara County

Decide what you want your instructions to do

Begin by separating two questions: what health-care wishes do you want communicated, and do you want to identify someone to make health-care decisions? An advance health care directive can address health-care wishes, identify a decision-maker, or do both. Recording preferences and naming a person serve different purposes; one does not automatically answer the other question.

Before discussing a document, think about the preferences you want to communicate and whether choosing a decision-maker is part of your plan. If you are uncertain, you can identify what remains unresolved rather than assuming that a written preference or a named person covers every concern.

• Written preferences: what you want communicated about your health care.
• A decision-maker: whom you want identified to make health-care decisions.
• Both: whether you want the directive to address preferences and identify a person.

Keep health-care planning separate from financial authority

An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and decision-making. A financial power of attorney serves a different role involving financial decisions. A health-care document should not be treated as a substitute for planning about money or property, and a financial power of attorney does not serve the same health-care role.

If both health-care and financial matters are on your mind, list them as separate topics for discussion. This distinction helps keep the purpose of each document clear. Which planning documents fit a particular situation depends on the person's circumstances; general information cannot determine that choice.

Plan how people can find the directive

A document can only communicate its contents to people who can locate or access it when needed. As a practical preparation step, consider who may need to know that you have a directive, where the relevant document will be kept, and how those people could access it. These are planning questions, not a claim that any particular storage arrangement is legally required.

Keeping relevant documents accessible is distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Consider those as separate parts of your plan: making the document available to the people who may need it, and deciding whether registration of information about the directive is relevant to you.

• Make a list of people who may need to know the directive exists.
• Consider how those people could find or access the relevant document.
• Keep document accessibility and registration of information about a directive as distinct considerations.

Prepare for a focused planning conversation

Bring a short list of the health-care preferences you want to discuss, along with any questions about how to express them. Note separately whether you want to identify a person to make health-care decisions. If financial planning is also a concern, keep that on a separate list so its purpose is not confused with health-care instructions.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. offers virtual services throughout California from its single physical office in Novato; it does not have a stated physical office in Alum Rock. A useful next step is to discuss the scope of the directive and whether your planning should address written preferences, a decision-maker, or both. This information is general and does not provide medical advice or decide which treatment preferences are appropriate for you.