Living Wills and Health Care: Powers of Attorney

Many people are confused by the terms "living will" and "power of attorney", which both have special meanings under the law. A living will is a document that directs an agent regarding health care choices while you are alive. These choices include instructions to doctors and family about your wishes in the event that you are unable to make health care choices for yourself because of illness or unconsciousness. If you plan ahead you can decide whether you want surgery or to be kept alive artificially, for example, in a living will.

The term "power of attorney" is normally used to describe a document that allows someone to handle your financial affairs in the event that you are unable to due to illness, dementia or unconsciousness. Such a power of attorney's full name is a "durable power of attorney for financial management". There is another type of power of attorney that does not involve financial management, but rather health care decisions, similar to a living will. This type of power of attorney is called another name in the State of California "Advanced medical Care Directive" or "AMCD" for short. A living will, a power of attorney for health care and an advanced medical care directive are all very similar documents and accomplish essentially the same thing. You can set up both a durable power of attorney for financial management and a living will or AMDC in advance to allow a trusted family member to take over your affairs in your time of need. Doing this will likely avoid a court supervised conservatorship that can be very expensive and time consuming. However, these documents must be created when you are in good health and are able to understand their creation so don't wait too long to create these if you wish to avoid conservatorship. You should always consult an attorney experienced in drafting these documents if you wish to understand how they work.