Advance Health Care Directive
An Advance Health Care Directive includes a power of attorney authorizing another person to make health care related decisions for you, your wishes with respect to autopsy, donation of organs or tissue, and disposition after your death. This authority can take effect on your incapacity or immediately. The Advance Health Care Directive as of the year 2000 became the legally recognized format for a living will in California and goes beyond the scope of a traditional living will. Typically, an Advance Health Care Directive grants authority in the following areas:
- To make healthcare decisions including whether to administer artificial hydration and nutrition
- Whether to prolong your life in the event you are in a state that you will not likely recover or the likely risks of treatment do not outweigh the likely benefits
- Whether to give you needed pain medications if they might shorten your life
- Your preferences regarding autopsies, cremation and organ donation
Thinking about these issues and making these decisions for yourself can be very difficult. However, making them for your loved one with no direction from them as to what they would have preferred can tear families apart. Preparing these forms and making these decisions now insures that your wishes are known. Additionally, it can greatly aid the persons who will have to make these decisions for you when you can no longer make them for yourself.
For specific information and legal advice regarding an Advance Health Care Directive, please call and schedule your free initial consultation with a Van Sickle & Rowley Estate Planning Attorney.
