California Advanced Health Care Directive

The questions I’ve been getting most frequently this past week are about Advanced Health Care Directives, so I thought I’d share some basics. 

Every state has their own law surrounding advanced health care directives or Medical POAs or Living Wills. So you may know this document by another name if you live(d) in a different region. In California the document, to state who you want to make Medical Decisions on your behalf and what treatment you want or don’t want in a hospital setting is called the California Advance Health Directive. 

Since I know alot of us are focused on primary sources lately, the law around this document and the powers you can grant to another person is found in California Probate Code Section 4701 et seq. 

For the document to be executed properly and therefore legal, it must be witnessed by two people or notarized. (the sample forms below reflect this) 

If you receive healthcare from a larger institution, it is likely that they have a form that the legal department and administration teams put together. You can ask your doctor or health care provider’s administration office for a health care directive form as well.

I’m linking to some helpful valid versions of the California Advanced Health Care Directive form below:

Here is the statutory form: 

https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/consumers/ProbateCodeAdvancedHealthCareDirectiveForm-fillable.pdf 

Linked below is an easy to read form with more nuance:

https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/bioethics/documents/AdvanceDirective_English-easy-read.pdf

(This is available in multiple languages. Let us know if you need help finding a certain language. I used to teach from this form when I did community classes as a Legal Aid Attorney) 

If your Health Care Provider is Kaiser. 

https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/northern-california/health-wellness/life-care-plan/advance-health-care-directive

(Available in Multiple Languages for Kaiser Patients)

If you have questions about the California advanced health care directive, schedule a free quick consult to talk about it more – or shoot me an email.