Advance Health Care Directives

We help you structure Advance Health Care Directives (AHCDs) with Durable Powers of Attorney to maximize your independence and assure you receive appropriate care according to your wishes.

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An advance health care directive is a written document that expresses your thoughts and wishes regarding life sustaining treatment and end of life decisions.

It will be used if you are unable to make medical decisions yourself, such as if you are in a coma, advanced dementia, seriously injured, or otherwise incapacitated.

It also appoints someone to make decisions for you in case you are unable to make those decisions yourself and establishes durable powers of attorney – meaning that power of attorney continues to be effective even if the person who signs loses capacity.

Every adult should have an advance health care directive. You never know what may happen, and in the case of an accident or sudden illness it is good to be prepared.

If there is any disagreement about the course of action, such as between a patient’s spouse and adult children on whether or not to insert a feeding tube, it can get complicated and even go to court.

Healthcare professionals want to avoid liability and being sued by a spouse or adult child of the patient who believes the doctor made the wrong call. So, they will often not be the deciding vote between family members. If you have an advance health care directive, that legal document will be used to make such decisions, or to appoint a person to make those crucial decisions on your behalf . 

If you do not have an advance health care directive, the worst case is someone has to go to court and get a conservatorship in order to make decisions. It adds a whole other layer of stress and expense and delay that no one wants, especially in an already heightened situation.

The bottom line is that if you do not have an advance health care directive, you are leaving it up to chance what decision someone is going to make, who is going to make that decision, and how timely that will be.

You make the decisions now, and we make it legally enforceable, even if you are incapacitated (i.e. durable powers of attorney). Advance health care directives can include a wide range of instructions, such as:

  • Appointed decision maker - spouse, child, sibling, etc. Who has authority on your behalf?

  • What kind of life extending treatments you want, or want to avoid.

    • In what situations you want or do not want to be on life support

    • (i.e.) If I am going to be kept alive in a coma with near zero chance of survival, I do not want to be intubated.

  • Any religious beliefs around medical care, such as what type of treatment you are open to or are strongly against (i.e. no blood transfusions)

  • How you would like your remains to be handled. This can be especially helpful when family members hold differing religious beliefs on burial traditions.

    • Cremation versus burial

    • Your wishes if you would like to be an organ donor.

You can create your advance health care directive on its own, or you can do it as part of the general estate planning process. While you are going through the process it is a good time to think about these end of life decisions.

If you are admitted to the hospital, it is best to already have this completed. If you do not, they may ask you to complete one there. It is a good idea to do an advance health care directive when you have the time and space to think about it, not when you’re going in for surgery.

It is part of planning for your future – a good thing to do before you need it.

We are experienced dealing with complicated family situations. It is not uncommon for spouses, adult children, and parents to disagree on what should be done, especially when family members have different religious beliefs. An advance health care directive is your chance to make your life sustaining treatment and end of life wishes clear and enforceable.

Example: An advance health care directive can prevent court involvement

An elderly man with a degenerative muscle disease was in the hospital, and wanted to remove the feeding tube. He wanted to be allowed to not receive any more treatment and to pass on. He knew that his stepdaughter would fight him on this, and he did not have an advance health care directive. The doctors did not want to get sued by the stepdaughter. So, our attorneys filed a petition, and a San Francisco judge came to the hospital and determined the man was of sound mind and able to make this decision. The judge issued an order to remove the feeding tube. All of which could have been avoided with an advance health care directive done ahead of time.

We can help you craft a document that will make a tough situation just a bit easier. 

Maximize your independence, carry out your wishes, assure appropriate care, and make things easier on your family.

Hospital rooms are stressful. Your loved ones may find themselves all of a sudden responsible for making life-changing decisions on your behalf, with almost no time to consider. You can make it easier for them by having your wishes written out.

Get Started

Call our office at (415) 974-5715 or email info@kfslaw.net to get started.

Our experienced attorneys who work on advance health care directives: