Advance Health Care Directives

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Dear Advocates:

Source: http://www.lentillem.com/ahcd.html

Advance Health Care Directive: http://www.lentillem.com/AHCD.pdf

Advance Health Care Directives

Because of the recent controversy over whether or not it is appropriate to

withdraw artificial nutrition from Terri Schiavo, a cognitively disabled

woman in Florida, you may think that what happened to her could happen to

you someday, and your family may be faced with the prospect of withdrawing

medical treatment or nutrition for you.

The California Supreme Court rule in 2001, in a case named The

Conservatorship of Wendland, that nutrition cannot be withdrawn from a

person in Terri Schiavo's condition, unless there is " clear and convincing "

evidence, in writing, that the person either appointed someone else to make

medical decisions on his or her behalf, or declared that he or she did not

wish to be kept alive on artificial nutrition if rendered incapacitated.

The solution to this problem is for you to have an Advance Health Care

Directive. This document allows you to appoint an agent, or

attorney-in-fact, to make medical decisions on your behalf. You may also

declare whether or not you wish to have life sustaining treatment if you

should become terminally ill, or if you should be in an irreversible coma

or a persistent vegetative state, or if the burdens of a proposed medical

treatment outweigh the expected benefits.

Download Advance Health Care Directive Here:

Advance Health Care Directive Form: http://www.lentillem.com/AHCD.pdf

This form is in Adobe Reader format. If you need Adobe Reader, please

download it here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Please note that this form is based on the statutory form provided for in

the California Probate Code, with some modifications, and may not meet the

legal requirements for an Advance Health Care Directive in other

states. If you download the form, please make sure that you read it

thoroughly and follow its instructions. It must be signed before either a

Notary Public, or two adult witnesses, one of whom may not be a blood

relative or inherit any of your assets upon your death. Furthermore, if

the person signing the Advance Health Care Directive is a patient in a

skilled nursing facility or convalescent hospital, the document must also

be witnessed by an Ombudsman for long term care or a patient advocate.