ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

An Advance Health Care Directive allows you to make health care decisions for yourself and let those wishes be known when and if you are incapacitated and unable to communicate your wishes.

A "Living Will" and "Power of Attorney for Health Care" are similar documents used in other states, but in California, the Advance Health Care Directive (“AHCD”) is the estate planning document that is used to let your wishes regarding medical decisions be known.

One of the most important aspects of an AHCD includes the power to designate an agent to both enforce the decisions you have already made in your AHCD and to make decisions regarding health care options for anything you did not already decide.  Once you designate an agent in your AHCD it gives this person the power and ability to decide, on your behalf, various health care related choices. Your agent can be a spouse, child, a family member, or a friend.  To avoid conflict-of-interest issues, the agent you select cannot be a medical care provider, operator of a community or neighborhood care facility, operator of a care facility for the elderly, or in most cases, any employee of any of these facilities.

The agent you appoint, will have the legal authority to instruct medical providers about your medical care if you are unconscious or unable to give these instructions yourself. Your agent is legally bound to carry out your wishes, as put forth in your AHCD.  If you at some point become incapacitated, your agent's authority overrides others' and this person will decide on your behalf various treatment options, as spelled out in your AHCD. You may limit your agent's authority when you complete your AHCD or give him or her complete authority to make all healthcare decisions for you.

You should also designate one or two alternate agents for your healthcare decisions in the event your primary choice is unable or unwilling to act when the time comes that they need to instruct others on your help care decisions or make these difficult decisions for you.

It is important when choosing an agent for healthcare decisions that you discuss your designation with them before you select them in your AHCD.  You should make sure the person you selected is trustworthy.  They also need to be capable of handling the difficult task of enforcing your healthcare decisions or making them when necessary.  They should be someone who is geographically close enough to be there to make decisions under short notice if necessary.  And it is also important to discuss with alternate agents that they too have been selected to act in the event your primary choice cannot or will not act.

When you create an AHCD, you decide what you want, including use of life support equipment, donation of body parts, authorization for an autopsy if warranted, and what is to be done with your remains. Your agent simply makes sure your wishes are carried out.  You may also deny these powers of your agent. Health care decisions may also include selection and dismissal of health care providers and institutions, diagnostic test or surgical procedure approval or disapproval, medication programs, and directions to provide, withhold, or withdraw artificial hydration and nutrition and all health care of other forms, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Your AHCD becomes operative when the doctor, or doctors, of your choice designate that you are incapacitated and unable to convey to medical personnel your healthcare decisions for yourself or understand the ramifications of those decisions.  Or an AHCD can become operative right away, giving your agent the immediate power to make your health care decisions.

And remember, your AHCD can be revoked by you at any time. If you do not revoke the AHCD, it will remain effective indefinitely except in the event that a termination date that predates your death was specified in the document.

It’s your body, your decision.  By creating an AHCD you decide what happens to you and you decide who enforces those decisions.  Without an AHCD someone you may not want making your healthcare decisions could be making them for you - and they could be making healthcare decisions about what happens to you that you do not agree with.  Don’t let that happen.  Create an AHCD today!

For more information on preparing Advance Health Care Directives, and your entire comprehensive estate plan, contact an experienced estate planning attorney.

I’m attorney Eric Rudolph at (760) 702-4046 or EARattorney@gmail.com with Your Legal Buzz.

NOISY NEIGHBORS - WHAT TO DO

Is your neighbor blasting his stereo at 3 a.m.? Does your neighbor's dog start barking five minutes after she pulls out of her driveway? Noisy neighbors can wreck your sleep and ruin your day. What can you legally do to make it stop?

When it comes to noisy neighbors, retaliation is not the answer. Revenge will only make the situation worse, and probably provoke your neighbor. Resist the temptation to turn your stereo up and fight back. Your neighbor may have no idea how loud her stereo or barking dog may seem to you. So talk to your neighbor about the noise level problem. You should make a specific suggestion for solving the problem. Maybe you and your neighbor can agree no loud stereos past 10 p.m. on weeknights. Or perhaps your neighbor's pet can be kept indoors while she is away, so barking won't disturb others.

If the noise continues, get a copy of your local noise ordinance. Most noise ordinances limit the level of noise and restrict the time when noise can occur. Check with other neighbors to see if they're also disturbed by the noise. If so, they might be happy to join forces to put a stop to the noise.

Put your complaint in writing.  Write a letter to your neighbor, describing the noise problem, and include information about your previous conversation(s) asking the noise be quieted or stopped. Suggest in the letter that if the noise doesn't stop, you'll be forced to call the police or start a lawsuit. Enclose a copy of the noise ordinance with the letter and the signatures of other neighbors who are also affected by the noise. If nothing else works, you should call the police while the noise is occurring. The police may simply warn your neighbor, but later if called again, they will issue a ticket or summons if the noise continues.

If all else fails, you can take your neighbor to small claims court. You'll likely have to prove that the noise is excessive and you'll also need to show the steps you've taken to try to stop the disturbances - here's where copies of your letter to the neighbor can come in handy.

Regardless of the approach you take, the more polite you are, the more likely you'll come to a livable solution to the problem and get along with your neighbor in the future.

I’m attorney Eric Rudolph with your Legal Buzz.