How to Set Up an Advanced Directive for a Loved One in California
- 1). Discuss medical care and end-of-life decisions with your loved one. Your loved one must decide what medical treatments he may or may not want, where he would like to be cared for at the end of his life, his desires for palliative care and whether he wants his organs donated upon death. Provide your loved one with information about his options and encourage him to talk to his physician about his decisions.
- 2). Help determine who should handle your loved one's health care choices. California law allows her to select someone who will be authorized through a power of attorney to make medical decisions in the event she is unable. A spouse or other relative often is named for this role, though your loved one may select whomever she is comfortable with.
- 3). Assist your loved one in creating or completing an advance directive form. Though there is no required form that must be completed, California law requires that certain provisions be included. The state attorney general's office provides a sample form that may be completed or used as a model to help your loved one create his own form.
- 4). Once your loved one completes the advance directive, she must sign and date it along with at least two witnesses, or in the presence of a notary. California law requires that neither witness be listed as her designated agent in the directive, and that at least one be unrelated to her and not included in her estate or will.
- 5). Inform important people of your loved one's decisions. Provide a copy of the advance directive to your loved one's physician and the person he appointed as his agent. Help him find a safe place to keep a copy of the advance directive and ensure that others know where to find it if necessary.
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