Know About A California Advance Healthcare Directive

1. Know About A California Advance Healthcare Directive A California Advance Healthcare Directive is important because no estate planning consultation is complete without a discussion about how health care decisions will be made if you become incapacitated. Such discussions should not be reserved exclusively for situations in which the client is very ill or elderly. In fact, Nancy Cruzan, the key individual in the landmark case Cruzan v Missouri Dep’t of Health (1990) 497 US 261, 110 S Ct 2841, was only 25 years old at the time of her tragic automobile accident, and Terri Schiavo was only 26 when she collapsed into a coma. Thus, the California Advance Healthcare Directive may well be the most important document you ever sign. Illness and advanced age are not the only reasons for you to consider signing a California Advance Healthcare Directive. You should consider a California Advance Healthcare Directive when facing surgery, a medical scare, a marriage or divorce, anticipated participation in a particularly dangerous activity, changes to your prior health care decisions, or the desire to change agents named in a previously signed California Advance Healthcare Directive. You must make sure you understand the potential consequences of not signing a California Advance Healthcare Directive and the significant benefits of signing one. Without a California Advance Healthcare Directive, you could be subject to a conservatorship proceeding that seeks court authorization to make critical health decisions in the event of incapacity. Such proceedings are often expensive and time-consuming and can be an affront to your dignity. With a California Advance Healthcare Directive , you can make the critical health decisions ahead of time, while you are able to make and articulate those decisions.