Make your medical wishes known. Appoint someone you trust to make healthcare decisions if you can't. Ensure your values are honored. Attorney-reviewed. Included with all packages.
An advance healthcare directive (also called a living will or healthcare power of attorney) is a legal document that specifies your medical treatment preferences and names someone to make healthcare decisions for you if you're unable to communicate. In California, this document combines both a living will and healthcare power of attorney into one form.
Without an advance directive, doctors and hospitals may not know your wishes about end-of-life care, life support, organ donation, or who you want making decisions. This can cause confusion, family conflict, and medical treatments you wouldn't want.
Your advance directive ensures your values and beliefs guide your medical care, even when you can't speak for yourself.
California law has specific requirements for a valid advance healthcare directive under the California Probate Code. Understanding these requirements ensures your directive will be honored.
You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. "Sound mind" means you understand what an advance directive is, the types of medical decisions it covers, and the consequences of your choices.
Your directive must be either (1) signed by two adult witnesses who are not your healthcare agent, OR (2) acknowledged before a notary public. Our documents meet California requirements and include notary acknowledgment options.
California law prohibits certain people from witnessing your directive: your healthcare agent, your doctor or healthcare provider, employees of your healthcare facility (if you're a patient), or anyone who would inherit from you. This prevents conflicts of interest.
Your healthcare agent's authority begins when your doctor determines you lack capacity to make healthcare decisions. You can still make your own decisions as long as you're conscious and competent, even if you're seriously ill.
A properly executed California advance directive is valid in all California hospitals, nursing homes, and healthcare facilities. Healthcare providers must honor your directive or transfer you to a provider who will.
Specify whether you want life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition, ventilators, or CPR if you're terminally ill or in a permanent vegetative state. Without a directive, doctors must provide all available treatments.
Name someone you trust to make medical decisions if you can't. This person speaks with doctors, reviews medical options, and ensures your wishes are followed. Without this, family members may disagree about your care.
Clear instructions relieve your family from making difficult medical decisions during a crisis. They know they're following your wishes, not guessing what you'd want.
Our package includes HIPAA authorization, allowing your healthcare agent and family members to access your medical records and speak with doctors.
Specify whether you want to be an organ donor and which organs/tissues you're willing to donate. This ensures your wishes are honored and can save lives.
Every estate planning package (will or trust) includes an advance healthcare directive and HIPAA authorization at no additional cost.
Your healthcare agent can make decisions about:
Consent to or refuse medical procedures, surgery, diagnostic tests, medications, and experimental treatments.
Decide whether to start, continue, or stop life support, ventilators, feeding tubes, dialysis, or CPR.
Choose hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, and other healthcare providers. Authorize transfers between facilities.
Authorize pain medication, hospice care, and palliative treatments to ensure comfort.
Access your medical records, speak with doctors and nurses, and authorize release of information.
Understanding when your advance directive becomes critical:
You're diagnosed with terminal cancer with 6 months to live. Your directive specifies whether you want aggressive chemotherapy, hospice care, life support if complications arise, and where you prefer to spend your final days. Your healthcare agent ensures doctors follow your wishes for quality of life vs. life extension.
You suffer a severe stroke or traumatic brain injury and are unconscious. Doctors need immediate decisions about surgery, ventilator use, and feeding tubes. Without a directive, family members may disagree. Your healthcare agent has legal authority to make these decisions based on your documented wishes.
You develop Alzheimer's or dementia and can no longer make informed decisions. Your directive addresses whether you want aggressive treatment for infections, feeding tubes when you stop eating, or transfer to memory care facilities. Your agent ensures your preferences are honored as your condition progresses.
After cardiac arrest, you're resuscitated but suffer severe brain damage. You're in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Your directive specifies whether to continue life support, artificial nutrition/hydration, or allow natural death. This prevents years of legal battles like the Terri Schiavo case.
You undergo routine surgery but experience complications requiring immediate decisions about additional procedures, blood transfusions, or life support. If you're under anesthesia or sedated, your healthcare agent can consent to or refuse treatment based on your values and religious beliefs.
You develop end-stage kidney, heart, or liver failure. Your directive addresses whether you want dialysis, organ transplant evaluation, aggressive ICU care, or comfort-focused hospice care. Your agent works with doctors to ensure treatments align with your quality-of-life priorities.
Avoid these pitfalls when creating your advance healthcare directive:
Many people complete the legal paperwork but never discuss their values and preferences with their chosen agent. Your agent needs to understand your beliefs about quality of life, religious views, and what matters most to you. Have detailed conversations before a crisis occurs.
Your healthcare agent may need to make life-or-death decisions. Don't choose someone simply because they're your oldest child or closest relative. Choose someone who is emotionally capable of making difficult choices, assertive with medical professionals, and willing to honor your wishes even if they disagree personally.
If your directive is locked in a safe deposit box, it won't be accessible during an emergency. Give copies to your healthcare agent, alternate agent, doctor, close family members, and keep a copy in your medical records at your primary hospital.
Phrases like "no heroic measures" or "don't let me suffer" mean different things to different people. Be specific about which treatments you do or don't want: ventilators, feeding tubes, CPR, dialysis, antibiotics, etc. Our attorney-prepared directives include clear language that medical professionals understand.
Review your directive after divorce, remarriage, death of your healthcare agent, major health diagnosis, or changes in your values. An outdated directive may name someone you no longer trust or reflect preferences that no longer match your beliefs.
Studies show families guess wrong about their loved one's end-of-life preferences 50% of the time. Don't assume your family "just knows" what you'd want. Document your wishes in a legally binding directive and discuss them openly.
Even your healthcare agent may be denied access to medical information without proper HIPAA authorization. Our packages automatically include HIPAA forms allowing your agent and designated family members to receive medical information.
A living will states your preferences for end-of-life care. A healthcare power of attorney appoints someone to make decisions. California's advance directive combines both into one document.
No. Your agent must follow your written instructions. They only make decisions for situations you didn't address in your directive.
California doesn't have a registry. Give copies to your doctor, healthcare agent, family, and keep the original with your estate planning documents. Consider carrying a wallet card stating you have a directive.
Yes. You can revoke or modify it anytime while you're competent. Simply execute a new directive or written revocation.
Generally yes. Most states honor out-of-state advance directives if they were valid where executed. However, if you split time between California and another state, consider executing a directive in both states to avoid potential conflicts.
This is why you should name an alternate (backup) agent in your directive. If both are unavailable, California law allows a conservator to be appointed, but this requires court proceedings. Always name at least one alternate agent.
If honoring your directive conflicts with a doctor's personal beliefs or medical judgment, they must transfer you to another physician who will honor it. They cannot simply refuse without transferring your care.
Choose whoever is most capable of making difficult decisions and advocating with medical professionals. Your spouse may be emotionally overwhelmed during a crisis. Some people choose an adult child, sibling, or close friend who can think clearly under pressure. Discuss this with your family.
California law allows certain family members to make decisions in priority order: spouse, adult children (majority vote), parents, siblings, etc. This can lead to family conflict, delays in care, and decisions that don't reflect your wishes. A directive prevents these problems.
Not typically. California has separate laws for involuntary psychiatric holds (5150 holds). However, your directive can address preferences for mental health treatment if you become incapacitated for other reasons.
A DNR is a medical order from your doctor instructing emergency personnel not to perform CPR. An advance directive is a broader legal document covering many medical decisions. You can request a DNR through your directive, but the DNR itself is a separate form signed by your physician.
Absolutely. Many people include guidance about their religious beliefs, quality-of-life values, or personal philosophy about medical care. This helps your healthcare agent understand your perspective when making decisions about treatments you didn't specifically address.
Your healthcare agent has legal authority, not your family. However, serious disputes can lead to court intervention. This is why it's critical to discuss your wishes with both your agent and family beforehand to prevent conflicts during a crisis.
Follow these steps to ensure your directive is valid and effective:
Select someone who is at least 18 years old, understands your values, can make difficult decisions under pressure, and is willing to advocate for your wishes even in emotionally charged situations. Choose an alternate agent in case your first choice is unavailable.
Have detailed conversations with your healthcare agent about your beliefs regarding quality of life, religious views, acceptable trade-offs between life extension and comfort, and specific treatments (ventilators, feeding tubes, CPR, etc.). Don't skip this step.
Use our attorney-prepared California advance directive form that meets all legal requirements. Specify your preferences for life-sustaining treatment, organ donation, pain management, and any other important medical decisions. Include personal values or religious beliefs that should guide decisions.
Either have two qualified adult witnesses watch you sign (who are not your healthcare agent, doctor, or beneficiaries), OR sign before a California notary public. We recommend notarization for added validity and acceptability at medical facilities.
Give copies to your healthcare agent, alternate agent, primary care physician, specialists treating serious conditions, close family members, and your attorney. Request that your doctor add it to your medical records. Consider keeping a copy in your wallet or phone.
Fill out the HIPAA authorization form (included with all our packages) to ensure your healthcare agent and designated family members can access your medical information and speak with healthcare providers.
Review your directive every few years or after major life events (divorce, remarriage, death of your agent, serious health diagnosis, change in values). Execute a new directive if your preferences or circumstances change.
Included with all estate planning packages. Make your medical wishes known.
✓ Attorney-Reviewed ✓ 25+ Years Experience ✓ California State Bar #208356