Advance Health Care Directive Attorney in California

An advance health care directive outlines a person’s future wishes for his health care should he become incapacitated and unable to communicate these wishes. In California, an advance health care directive:

• Includes a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care.
• Will appoint someone to be an “agent” who will have the power of attorney and will be responsible for ensuring that a person’s health care wishes are carried out.
• Can make sure that a person’s important health care decisions are not left up to judges, estranged family members or others who may not be the best individuals to make these choices for an incapacitated person.

At the Law Offices of Darrell C. Harriman, I have extensive experience assisting clients in developing comprehensive, effective advance health care directives. Regardless of a person’s needs and future wishes regarding health care, I can develop solutions to ensure these needs and wishes are appropriately met and carried out in the future.

What an Advance Health Care Directive Can Do

An advance health care directive is a powerful tool that can be used to specifically grant the powers to (or to specifically deny the powers to) do any of the following on behalf of an incapacitated person:

• Make decisions regarding the continuation or termination of life-support and/or whether to try to resuscitate.
• Choose or dismiss certain health care providers.
• Make decisions regarding diagnostic testing, medication programs and/or proposed surgical treatments.
• Donate a person’s organs.
• Authorize autopsies.
• Make decisions regarding how a person’s remains will be handled.

Setting Up an Advance Health Care Directive in California: What You Should Know

While setting up an advance health care directive can be an important step in the estate planning process, there are some things that people should know about these directives as they are putting them together. Specifically, here’s what people may need to know about setting up an advance health care directive in California:

• Certain people cannot legally be named as “agents” – In particular, California law prohibits an agent of an advance health care directive from being a person’s health care provider, anyone who is employed by or runs a health care facility and anyone who operates or is employed by a nursing home-type of facility.
• Agents should preferably be people who are trusted and who can maintain composure under pressure – The choice of an agent for an advance health care directive should not be taken lightly, as this person may end up having the authority to make life-altering decisions on behalf of a person. As a result, it’s generally advisable that people choose agents who are dependable, reliable and trustworthy and who can (ideally) remain calm under pressure.

There can be a lot of other considerations as you go through the process of setting up an advance health care directive in California, so be sure that you have an experienced attorney advising you and guiding you through the process by contacting the trusted Los Angeles area estate planning attorney at the Law Offices of Darrell C. Harriman.