Advance Health Care Directives and Living Wills for Woodland Residents

Start by separating instructions from decision-making authority

Before deciding what help you need, ask yourself two separate questions: What health-care wishes do I want recorded, and who do I want to make health-care decisions for me? An advance health care directive can address both. Its written instructions communicate your wishes; its identification of a decision-maker addresses who may make decisions. Considering the two parts separately can help you see whether you want to focus on documenting preferences, choosing a person, or addressing both.

This page focuses on documenting treatment preferences and making those instructions available to people who may need them. Choosing a suitable health-care agent is a separate decision. If you have not settled that question, treat it as an open planning issue rather than assuming that written instructions alone identify the right person.

• What preferences do I want to communicate in writing?
• Do I also need to decide who should make health-care decisions?
• Have I kept the written document somewhere relevant people can access?

Know what a directive does—and what it does not do

A directive can express health-care wishes and identify someone to make health-care decisions. That does not make it a general financial-planning document. A financial power of attorney has a different role: it concerns financial matters rather than health-care choices. If your planning question is about managing finances, do not assume that recording medical preferences addresses it.

Written preferences also have a practical limit: people who may need to refer to them must be able to find the document. Preparing a directive and keeping it accessible are distinct from registering information about an executed directive. Registration is not a substitute for preparing and retaining the relevant document.

Choose a preparation approach that matches your question

A useful first step is to identify whether your main concern is putting wishes into writing, selecting a person to make decisions, or both. If your preferences are clear but your choice of decision-maker is not, keep those questions separate while you consider them. If you have already chosen a person, you can still focus on whether your written instructions communicate what you want that person and others to know.

For preparation, consider making a private list of the preferences you want to discuss and the people who should be able to locate the document. This is an organizational suggestion, not a legal requirement or medical recommendation. A conversation about the document can then stay focused on expressing your wishes and addressing access to the written instructions.

Make the document useful by planning for access

A written directive can only communicate its contents to people who can locate it. Think through who may need to know where the document is kept and how they would find it. Keeping the document accessible is a separate practical task from recording information about an executed directive in a registry; neither step should be confused with the other.

If you want to discuss preparing or organizing an advance health care directive, Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. offers virtual services statewide. You can begin by identifying the preferences you want recorded and whether you also need to address who will make health-care decisions.