Living Wills and Powers of Attorney for California

A serious accident or illness can happen to anyone at any time. That’s why everyone should have these essential documents:

• An advance health care directive (also called a living will and durable power of attorney for health care), which lets you state your wishes for end-of-life medical care and name a trusted person who will work with your doctors to be sure you get the kind of care you want.
  
• A durable power of attorney for finances, which lets you appoint someone you trust to manage your finances for you if you no longer can.
  

The book explains how to create these forms to comply with California law, and how they can be used to help your family.

The book also contains instructions for obtaining a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order or a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form, either of which can be used to let emergency medical responders know that you don’t want certain extreme measures to be used to revive you.