Advance Health Care Directives in Pasatiempo, Santa Cruz County

Decide what you want the document to communicate

Start by identifying the treatment preferences and personal values you want reflected in writing. A directive can give others information about your wishes, but a general statement may not answer every question that could arise. Think about what you mean in language that you and the people close to you can understand.

It may help to make a short list of topics you want to address and questions you still have. This is a preparation step, not a legal requirement or medical recommendation. If you are uncertain what a particular medical choice involves, keep that question separate from the legal question of how your wishes are recorded.

• What preferences do you want written down?
• Are there values or circumstances you want to explain in your own words?
• Does the document express wishes, identify a decision-maker, or serve both purposes?

Keep written wishes separate from choosing an agent

An advance health care directive can both express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Written instructions and the identity of a decision-maker serve different functions. This page focuses on documenting treatment preferences rather than evaluating whom to select as an agent.

If a directive identifies someone, consider whether that person understands what you want the document to communicate. That conversation can help clarify your intentions, but it does not change the distinction between recording preferences and naming someone to make decisions.

Make the document findable and distinguish it from financial authority

Preparing a directive and keeping relevant documents accessible are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration information does not replace the document itself. As a practical check, consider who may need to consult it and how that person would locate the current version.

Also identify which kind of decision you are trying to address. An advance health care directive concerns health-care wishes and decision-making; a financial power of attorney serves a different financial role. Do not assume that one document answers questions that belong to the other.

• Note where the current directive is kept and who should know how to find it.
• If you have more than one planning document, clarify the purpose of each rather than treating them as interchangeable.

Understand the local resource and the firm’s service coverage

Pasatiempo is an unincorporated community in Santa Cruz County. The Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, provides general information through its probate division. That resource is not a determination of venue or instructions for a particular matter, and it should not be taken to mean that a court routinely approves health-care planning documents.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one physical office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, and provides virtual services throughout California. Pasatiempo service is available virtually; the firm does not have a branch there. A useful next step is to gather any existing directive and note what you want clarified about treatment preferences, document access, or the difference between health-care and financial authority.