Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Anderson Residents

Start with the treatment preferences you want recorded

A useful first step is to consider what you want the people involved in your care to understand about your health-care wishes. The directive is a way to express those wishes in writing; it is not a substitute for discussing medical questions with an appropriate health-care professional.

Before the conversation, write down your preferences in your own words. If a preference depends on a particular circumstance, note the circumstance and the question you want to clarify. This can help focus the discussion on what you want communicated rather than on trying to settle every question during the consultation.

• Note the health-care situations or decisions you most want to address.
• Record questions about how to describe a preference clearly.
• Consider who should be able to locate the document when it may be needed.

Keep written instructions distinct from choosing an agent

An advance health care directive can serve two related but distinct purposes: express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. Written preferences communicate what you want; naming a decision-maker addresses who may make decisions. Thinking about these separately can make it easier to identify what you still need to discuss.

This page focuses on treatment preferences and making the document available. If you are considering who should make decisions for you, treat that as a separate choice to discuss. A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial matters, not health-care decisions.

Prepare for a remote consultation

A little organization can make a remote conversation more productive. Gather any advance health care directive or other relevant document you already have, and note where you keep it. If you have previously recorded information about an executed directive, include that information with your notes so it can be discussed in context.

You do not need to arrive with polished legal language. Bring a short list of preferences, uncertainties, and practical questions. For example, you might ask how to make a written preference understandable to the people who may need to refer to it. This is a preparation question, not a medical recommendation.

• Collect existing health-care planning documents and note their locations.
• Write down the preferences or situations you want to discuss.
• List the people who may need to know where the document is kept.
• Separate health-care planning questions from questions about financial authority.

Make the document findable

Preparing a directive and keeping relevant documents accessible are separate from registering information about an executed directive. Consider how the people who may need the document will learn where it is kept, and include that practical issue in your planning discussion.

A record of registration is not the same thing as the document itself. Plan how the relevant document can be located, and ask what arrangements make sense for your circumstances. Avoid assuming that simply having written preferences means the people involved in your care will know where to find them.

A focused next step

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California from its Novato office. For a remote consultation about advance health care directives and living wills, bring your written questions, any existing relevant documents, and a note about how you hope the document will be made available to the people who may need it. That preparation helps direct the discussion toward your preferences and the practical steps you want to consider.