Make your medical wishes known, and name someone to speak for you when you can’t. An advance health care directive ensures your voice is heard in a medical crisis and spares your family from agonizing guesswork. I help California families put this protection in place through a simple, fully virtual process.
Imagine your family gathered in a hospital, forced to make a life-and-death decision on your behalf, with no idea what you would have wanted. It’s one of the heaviest burdens a family can carry, and it’s entirely preventable.
An advance health care directive removes that burden. It puts your wishes in writing and names a trusted person to make medical decisions for you if you can’t make them yourself. I am Jolene Blackbourn, a California estate planning attorney serving the greater La Crescenta area and families statewide through a secure virtual practice, and I make sure your voice is protected.
An advance health care directive is a legal document that does two essential things:
In California, this single document combines what were once two separate tools (a “durable power of attorney for health care” and a “living will”) into one comprehensive directive.
A medical crisis can happen to anyone, at any age. If you’re ever unable to speak for yourself and have no advance directive, your family is left to guess, often under enormous stress and sometimes in disagreement with one another.
When there’s no directive and no named agent, decisions about your care may fall to family members who don’t know your wishes, or in some cases may require court involvement to sort out who decides. Loved ones can be torn apart by disagreements over what you “would have wanted.”
An advance health care directive prevents all of this by making your wishes clear and your decision-maker official.
This document isn’t only about you. It protects your family from the crushing weight of making impossible decisions in the dark, and it protects your relationships from the conflict those decisions can cause.
Your advance health care directive can be as detailed or as general as you wish. It commonly addresses:
You decide how much authority to give your agent and how specific to be about your wishes. I help you think through these deeply personal choices with clarity and care.
Your health care agent may one day speak for you in the most critical moments of your life, so choosing the right person matters. A good agent is someone who:
You can also name an alternate agent as a backup. I help you consider who is truly right for this role, because the wrong choice can be as risky as having no directive at all.
A common question is when a health care agent actually gains authority. The answer is reassuring: your agent generally steps in only when you are unable to make or communicate your own health care decisions, as determined by your physician. As long as you can speak for yourself, you remain fully in charge of your own care.
Your directive is not a surrender of control. It is a safety net that activates only if you truly need it, and steps back the moment you recover.
When it’s in effect, your agent works with your medical team to make decisions consistent with the wishes you’ve written down. That is why a conversation with the person you name matters so much: the document gives them authority, but your conversations give them guidance.
I encourage every client to do three things once their directive is signed:
Consider how this plays out in real life. A woman in her sixties is in a serious car accident and, for several days, cannot communicate. Decisions have to be made about her treatment.
Because she completed an advance health care directive, her daughter, the agent she named, is able to step in immediately. The medical team knows exactly who speaks for her, and her daughter already knows her mother’s wishes because they had talked about them. Difficult moments are still difficult, but there is clarity instead of chaos.
Without the directive, the same family might face a very different experience: relatives unsure who has authority, disagreements about what she “would have wanted,” and in some cases delays while the situation is sorted out, all during a frightening medical emergency. The directive doesn’t remove the hardship of the moment, but it removes the guesswork, the conflict, and the uncertainty.
That is the real gift of this document. It speaks for you when you cannot, and it spares the people you love from carrying an impossible weight alone.
An advance health care directive handles your medical decisions, and it works hand in hand with the rest of your plan:
Together, these documents make sure that whatever happens, the right people have clear authority to act, for both your health and your finances.
Here’s how the two decision-making roles compare:
| Health Care Agent | Financial Agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Set up by | Advance health care directive | Financial power of attorney |
| Handles | Medical and treatment decisions | Bills, accounts, property |
| Takes over when | You can't make medical decisions | You can't manage finances |
| Can they overlap? | Can be the same person or different people |
Finding time to visit a law office during business hours is a real barrier for busy families. By choosing a virtual attorney, you receive the same high-level legal expertise without the commute. Here’s what sets my practice apart:
Put your directive in place from the comfort of home. We meet by secure video or phone, on your schedule.
You'll know your investment upfront, no surprise hourly bills
These are sensitive, deeply personal decisions. I guide you through them with patience and respect.
I ensure your directive meets California's specific legal requirements so it's valid and honored when it matters.
My office serves La Crescenta, Montrose, Tujunga, Sunland, and surrounding communities in Los Angeles County, with fully virtual services available to families throughout California.
In California, the advance health care directive combines both functions, naming a health care agent (once a “durable power of attorney for health care”) and stating your treatment wishes (once a “living will”), into a single comprehensive document.
If you can’t communicate and have no directive, your family may have to make difficult medical decisions without knowing your wishes, and in some situations may need court involvement to determine who decides. A directive prevents this.
Someone who knows your values, can stay calm under pressure, will honor your wishes even if they differ from their own, and is willing to serve. You can also name an alternate agent as backup.
Yes. You can update or revoke your advance health care directive at any time as your wishes or circumstances change.
No. A health care agent handles only medical decisions. Financial matters are handled by a separate financial power of attorney, most people should have both.
Yes. Consultation and preparation are handled through a secure virtual process, and I guide you through California’s signing and witnessing or notarization requirements so your directive is fully valid.
An advance health care directive is one of the most caring things you can do for the people you love. It ensures your wishes are honored and spares your family the anguish of guessing. The hardest part is starting, and I’ve made that part simple.
or call 818-473-5325.
Flat-fee pricing • Fully virtual • Serving all of California
Jolene Blackbourn, Esq., California Bar No. 221789. This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
