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Horspool & Parker
A Professional Law Corporation
Since 1975
California Law allows you to choose another person to make health care decisions for you if for any reason you are unable to speak for yourself. By completing a form called an “Advance Health Care Directive” (AHCD), you can appoint another person to be your health care “agent”. This person will have legal authority to make decisions about your medical care if you are unconscious or otherwise cannot make these decisions for yourself. You can also write down your heath care wishes in the AHCD form (for examples, a desire not to receive treatment that only prolongs the dying process if your are terminally ill). Your agent must follow these instructions and must honor any other wishes you have made.
A properly completed AHCD provides the best assurance that your wishes will be respected if you become seriously ill and cannot speak for your self.
6. How much authority will my health care agent have? If you become incapacitated, your agent will have authority over any other person to speak for you in health care matters. Your agent will be able to accept or refuse medical treatment, to have access to your medical records, and to make decisions about donating your organs, authorizing an autopsy and disposing of our remains when you die. However, if you do not want your agent to have certain powers or to make certain decisions, you can write a statement in the AHCD form limiting your agent’s authority. In addition, the law says that your agent may NOT authorize convulsive treatment, psychosurgery, sterilization, abortion, or placement in a mental health treatment facility.
It is important to remember that the person you appoint as your agent has not authority to make decisions for you until you are unable to make those decisions yourself. When you become incapacitated, your agent must make decisions that are consistent with any wishes that you have written in the AHCD form or make known in other ways, such as by telling family members, friends, or your doctor. If you have not made your wishes known, your agent must decide what is in your best interests.
1. Is a AHCD different from a “Living Will?”
Yes. “Living Wills” typically are documents that state your desire not to receive life-sustaining treatment if you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The living will form is specifically recognized under California law is called a Natural Death Act Declaration. A Natural Death Act Declaration allows you to state your wishes about refusing life-sustaining treatment. Unlike a living will or Declaration, a AHCD also can be used to state your desires about your health care in any situation in which you are unable to make your own decisions, not just when you are in a coma or terminally ill. In addition, only a AHCD allows you to appointment someone you trust to speak for you when you are incapacitated. You do not need a living will or Declaration if you already stated your wishes about life-sustaining treatment in a AHCD. The AHCD form distributed by the California Medical Association includes an optional living will statement that you can initial if it reflects your desires.
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Is a AHCD different from a “Living Will?”
- Who can complete a AHCD?
- Do I need a lawyer to complete a AHCD?
- Who can I appoint as my health care agent?
- Can I appoint more that one person to share the responsibility of being my health care agent?
- How much authority will my health care agent have?
- Will my health care agent be responsible for my medical bills?
- For how long is a AHCD valid?
- What if I change my mind after completing a AHCD?
- What should I do with the AHCD form after I fill it out?
- Is my AHCD form valid in other states?
- Can anyone force me to sign a AHCD?
- Can I get more information about he AHCD?
3. Do I need a lawyer to complete a AHCD?
No. You do NOT need a lawyer for a standard AHCD for (such as the form supplied by the California Medical Association) to be legally valid. The only exception is for individuals who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility who wish to appoint their conservator as their agent.
You can appoint almost any adult to be your agent. You can choose a member of your family such as your spouse or an adult child, a friend, or someone else you can trust. (If you appoint your spouse and later get divorced, the AHCD is automatically invalidated.) You can also appoint one or more “alternate agents” in case the person you select as your health care agent is unavailable or unwilling to make a decision. It is important that you talk to the people you want to appoint to make sure that they understand your wishes and agree to accept this responsibility. The law prohibits you from choosing certain people to act as your agent. You may NOT choose your doctor or a person who operates a community care facility (sometimes called “board and care homes”) or a residential care facility for the elderly. The law also prohibits you from appointing a person who works for your doctor, for the health care facility in which you are being treated, for a community care facility, or for a residential care facility for the elderly, UNLESS the person is related to your by blood, marriage or adoption.
The California Medical Association recommends that you name only one person as you health care agent. If two or more people are given equal authority and disagree about a health care decision, one of the important purposes of the AHCD - To clearly identify who has the authority to speak for you - will be defeated. If you are afraid of offending people close to you by choosing one over another to be your agent, ask them to decide among themselves who will be the agent, and list the others as alternative agents.
Any California resident who is at least eighteen years old, of sound mind, and acting of his or her own free will can complete a valid durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
No, unless that person would otherwise be responsible for your debt. The AHCD deals on with medical decision-making and has no effect on financial responsibility for your health care.
AHCD is valid for an indefinite period of time, unless you state in the form a specific date on which you want it to expire or the printed language in the form itself mentions a specific duration. Forms printed prior to January 1, 1992 generally expire at the end of seven years.
You can revoke or change a AHCD at anytime. Simply inform everyone who received a copy of the form that it is no longer valid, and destroy the copies. You should complete a new form if you want to name a different person as your agent or make other changes. However, if you only need to update the address or telephone number of your agent or alternate agent(s), you may write in the new information, and initial and date the change. You may want to make a list of whom you give a copy of the form so you will know whom to contact if you revoke the AHCD or make a new one.
Make sure that the form has been properly signed, dated, and either notarized or witnessed by two qualified individuals (the form includes instructions about who can and cannot be a witness. Keep the original in a safe place and give photocopies of the completed form to the persons you appointed as your agent and alternative agents, to your doctor and health plan, and to family members or anyone else who is likely to be called if there is a medical emergency. Take a copy of the form with you if you are going to be admitted to a hospital, nursing home or other health care facility. Photocopies of the completed form can be relied upon by your agent and doctors as though they were original.
Yes. Your doctor probably can provide you with more information. However you should talk to a lawyer if you want legal advise.
A AHCD form that meets the requirements of California law my or may not be honored in other states. If you spend a lit of time in another state, you my want to consult a doctor, lawyer or the medical society in that state to find out about the laws there.
No. The law specifically says that no one can require you to complete a AHCD before admitting you to a hospital or other health care facility, and no one can deny your health insurance because you choose not to complete a form.
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