What are Advance Health Care Directives?

Should you get a Long Beach advance health care directive prepared on your behalf by an attorney from Barilari & Williams? Yes, and for several factors.

Suppose you cannot voice your health care instructions and wishes for yourself due to disability or incapacity. In that case, an advance health care directive is a legally enforceable document that outlines your instructions and aspirations.

The estate planning attorneys at Barilari & Williams are devoted to assisting our clients with estate planning and associated issues, including powers of attorney and advance health care directives.

What Is the Purpose of an Advance Health Care Directive?

The terms “living will” and “medical power of attorney” are combined into a legal instrument known as an advance health care directive in California.

An advance health care directive designates a trusted individual as your “agent” to make health care choices on your behalf if you cannot do so on your own. It also states your intentions and instructions to healthcare professionals.

Everyone’s circumstances and choices are diverse and unique, so you should talk to your advanced healthcare directive lawyer at Barilari & Williams about your healthcare requirements and concerns.

Regarding your advance health care directive, your lawyer will respond to any of your inquiries and handle your worries.

What Might Be Spoken in an Advance Health Care Directive?

In Southern California, many of our clients want us to draft their advance healthcare directives. An advance health care directive can state your wishes for artificial nourishment and hydration, pain management, ventilators, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and do-not-resuscitate orders.

Many clients create an advanced healthcare directive to clarify that “heroic” life-prolonging procedures will not be performed if their medical condition becomes irreversible or fatal.

What is required under California law?

Your advance health care directive must be signed by two witnesses, notarized, or both. The instruction becomes enforceable after it has been seen or notarized. Retain the original, and give your chosen healthcare agent a duplicate.

It’s a good idea to distribute copies of your advance health care directive to your doctor, hospital, insurance company, and trusted family members and friends to ensure that your desires are respected.

Unless you update or withdraw it, your last advance health care directive will be in force. Every few years, you should examine the agreement to make sure your desires are still being carried out.

If you move to a new state, get married, divorce, remarry, or if your authorized agent can no longer fulfill their duties, you might need to update it.

Before creating an advanced healthcare directive

To be clear about your preferences for medical care, you must make these decisions before drafting an advance health care directive. If you’re unsure, a Barilari & Williams advance health care directive lawyer will assist you in carefully weighing your alternatives.

Barilari & Williams, located in Pasadena and Long Beach, may draft an advance health care directive that accurately and concisely outlines your instructions.

Your initial meeting with a lawyer at Barilari & Williams is free of charge. To arrange for that consultation, call us right away at 888-EST-PLAN.