Advance Healthcare Directive

Why Millennials and Even Gen-Z Need an Estate Plan

Whether you are in your 30s or even 20s, it is still a good idea to have an estate plan, especially now. Why should you have a will and medical directive at the very least? Here are a few important reasons.

• Accidents can happen – Tragic accidents don’t care about your age. It is important to have an estate plan in place, even if you have not had time to save up a lot of money yet. This will benefit your family if anything should ever happen to you.
• You need to make healthcare decisions – Estate planning is about more than just money. Having an advance medical directive in place can allow you to make healthcare decisions in advance. It also lets you choose an advocate to speak for you should you ever become incapacitated.
• COVID-19 can impact any family – The new coronavirus has brought the importance of estate planning to the fore. After all, a person can go from healthy to on a ventilator in a matter of days. Will the hospital know who to contact, who is authorized to make medical decisions for you, or what decisions you have already made in advance?

Planning for the Future in an Ever-Changing World

Regardless of your age, the modern world dictates planning for the unknown. Petrov Law Firm can help. To speak with an experienced estate planning attorney, call 619.344.0360 today. Remember that estate planning is about more than just money. Take control of your future today!

Make Sure Your California Advance Healthcare Directive is Up to Date

With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, now is not the time to have an outdated advance healthcare directive. Since regulations regarding a living will are different from state to state, if you have moved to California, your existing living will may not even be legally binding. Here are a few reasons to update your existing health care directive today.

• Make decisions in advance – If you end up incapacitated by coronavirus or any other disease, your family may face difficult decisions. You can make things easier by having your own decisions down in writing in advance.
• Choose a healthcare agent – Your directive allows you to select an agent in advance who will make decisions for you if you become medically incapacitated. When you combine this with leaving specific instructions, you create the circumstances under which your wishes are the most likely to be carried out, even if you cannot advocate for yourself.
• Inform your family – An advance directive is also a good way to let your family know what your wishes are so that no one is shocked if the situation arises and your agent makes the call for you.

Prepare or Update Your Advance Healthcare Directive Today

This is something that everyone in the state should have in place – now more than ever. To prepare or update your advance medical directive in southern California, you can call the professional estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm. Just dial 619.344.0360 to get the legal help you need to execute this document properly.

Medical Decisions Regarding End of Life

A patient has a great degree of latitude when it comes making end of life decisions. For example, you can choose whether or not the medical team will preserve your life using machines if your condition is fatal, irreversible, or if there is a medical degree of certainty that you will never regain consciousness. You also have decisions that involve weighing certain forms of treatment versus the risks and side effects.

The way that you make these decisions in advance is by executing an advance health care directive. In California, you can make medical decisions in advance by means of this document, and you can appoint a surrogate to give voice to your wishes if you are unconscious or otherwise incapacitated.

When you make these kinds of decisions in advance, it shows concern and love for your family, who would otherwise have to make these decisions without you and maybe amidst a great deal of disagreement. Executing an advance medical directive provides clear instructions, which benefits decision-makers and ensures that your personal wishes are carried out.

Preparing an Advance Medical Directive in California

Every state has its own laws regarding advance medical decisions, so you should enlist the help of an estate planning attorney to ensure your document is worded correctly. The estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm can help you to execute an advance medical directive and other estate planning documents. Call our San Diego office today at 619-344-0360 to learn more.

Mistakes to Avoid When Planning for Your Future

You may have always thought of it in terms of end of life decisions, but estate planning is really all about planning for the future. Many of your advance plans may still be enacted while you are alive. Here are a few mistakes to avoid when you plan for the future.

• Not making advance medical decisions – Are you willing to be revived or to have your life prolonged by machines? Are there certain treatments that are unwilling to accept for ethical or religious reasons? Making these decisions in advance and appointing someone to speak for you medically if you are unconscious are important when it comes to having your medical wishes carried out.
• Failing to update your existing estate plans – Maybe you created an estate plan several years ago but have not checked it since. Have you had any major changes in your assets since then? Did you get married, divorced, have a child, or change your family in some other way? Looking over your estate plan every few years and after any major life event is important to ensure that your current wishes are reflected.

Plan for Your Future with Help from an Estate Planning Attorney

Petrov Law Firm has southern California’s estate planning attorney experts. If you need to develop an estate plan, set up an advanced health directive, or even update an existing estate plan, we’re here to help. And don’t forget that every state has their own laws regarding succession, so if you set up your estate plan before you moved to California, you need to make sure it will still carry out your wishes here. Call 619-344-0360 to schedule a consultation today!

Protecting Your Right to Choose Medical Treatment in California

If you are a resident of the state of California, one of the things that you have to think of when it comes to estate planning is how you want medical matters to be cared for should you ever become incapacitated. This makes decision making easier on the family because they know your wishes, so there is no fighting.

In order to ensure your wishes are carried out, you will want to execute an Advance Healthcare Directive. Not only can you outline your medical wishes, but you can also designate a representative to carry out your wishes or make decisions for you if you are unconscious or otherwise unable to speak for yourself.

Another document that you may want to consider is a living will. This allows you to make end of life decisions in advance. That can remove the burden from family members should you ever be in a situation where all that is keeping you alive is a machine at the hospital.

Finally, you will want to provide the proper HIPPA authorization documents so that your doctors can share your medical information with the person you have designated as a healthcare agent. Being able to speak directly with the doctor or facility you are in will make it easier to ensure your wishes are carried out.

Comprehensive Estate Planning in California

Petrov Law Firm in San Diego can help you to plan properly for your future healthcare. To learn more, contact us today at 619-344-0360 and schedule a consultation with our experienced estate planning attorneys.

Common Estate Planning Pitfalls to Avoid

In our years of estate planning expertise, we’ve just about seen it all. This allows us to help our clients avoid the common pitfalls that affect many estate plans. Here are a few things to watch out for.

• Not Doing It – No one wants to think about his or her own mortality, but you are only hurting your loved ones by not having a plan in place. You don’t have to wait until you are a senior citizen to plan ahead for your future. And should some tragedy cut your life short, having an estate plan in place can make things a lot easier on the people you care about most.
• Neglecting Medical Planning – Estate planning is not all about assets. You also want to make advanced medical decisions. This gives you the opportunity to appoint an agent to champion your medical decisions or to make decisions for you should you become incapacitated for a time.
• Never Reviewing Your Plan – Our lives can change in an instant. A birth, a marriage, an adoption, a divorce, a financial reversal – these are all things that can have a profound effect on an estate plan. Be sure to review your plan every year to make sure it still accurately reflects your wishes and review it immediately when you experience a major life event like those listed above.

Plan for Your Future the Right Way

Petrov Law Firm offers the experienced California estate planning attorneys that you need in order to plan ahead for your future and protect your assets and rights. To learn more, contact us for a consultation at 619-344-0360 today.

End of Life Decisions Are Yours to Make

You have the freedom to make advance decisions as to whether you want to have your life prolonged should there be a reasonable degree of medical certain that you will not regain consciousness, your condition is irreversible and fatal, or the risks of treatment would outweigh the benefits. With that in mind, how you word your advance directive plays a key role in whether your wishes will be observed.

An advance health care directive needs to be a part of your estate planning. This document allows you to appoint someone to make medical decisions for you should you become incapacitated. It also allows you to state your medical wishes in advance on sensitive topics such as end of life decisions.

This document makes the process simpler for the person you designate as your health care surrogate. Your decision is already made. All he or she has to do is make sure your medical wishes are carried out by giving you a voice when you can’t speak for yourself.

Help in Preparing Your Advance Health Care Directive

Your decisions should be yours to make. However, if they are not executed properly, someone may be able to object when you can’t defend your wishes. Petrov Law Firm can help you to word your advance directive clearly and in harmony with California state law. Every state requires different wording for health care directives, so even if you have moved into California with an existing document, it needs to be updated right away. Call 619-344-0360 to get the help you need.

3 Documents You Need for Determining Your Healthcare Should You Become Incapacitated

Most people realize the importance of setting up a power of attorney to care for financial matters should they become incapacitated for a time. However, healthcare is frequently overlooked. This is a sensitive area and many people, even family members, will disagree on the type of medical care they want. With that in mind, here are 3 documents you need in case you are ever incapacitated and need medical care.

1. Advance Healthcare Directive – Your healthcare directive allows you to designate a health care agent who can make medical decisions for you should you become incapacitated for a time. It also gives you the opportunity to leave instructions for your health care agent so that you are still making your own medical decisions. The health care agent is therefore just carrying out your wishes until a situation comes up that you haven’t accounted for. Then he or she will step in to make those decisions for you.
2. Living Will – This gives you the opportunity to express additional wishes in regard to end of life decisions. For example, you can determine whether or not you want your life to be prolonged by machines, even if there is relatively little hope of being revived.
3. HIPPA Authorization – You need to give health care practitioners the legal right to share your medical information with your health care agents as having access to your records will make it much easier to make decisions in harmony with your wishes.

Planning for Your Future Health in California

Whether you have an estate plan that addresses financial matters but not health or you need to start from scratch, the estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm can help. Give us a call today at 619-344-0360 to ensure that your wishes will be carried out, not just after your death but even while you are alive should you become incapacitated.

Advanced Healthcare Directives in California – What You Need to Know

California’s Health Care Decisions Act makes an advanced healthcare directive (AHCD) an important part of your estate planning in California. What are some of the things you need to know about this act? What does it allow you to do? Why do you want the document to be legally executed? Here is what you need to know.

• Your Current Directive May Not Be Valid – If you have had an AHCD for a long time, you will want to check and make sure that it meets the current state guidelines. During a medical emergency is not when you want to find out that your AHCD hasn’t been valid for years.
• Appointing a Health Care Agent – This document allows you to appoint a health care agent who can make decisions for you should you become incapacitated. It also allows you to prepare instructions for your healthcare in advance, including end of life decisions.
• Your Decisions Can’t Be Altered by Someone Else – Neither your health care agent nor your doctor can override the explicit instructions you provide in your advance healthcare This allows you to take control of your healthcare choices.
• You Have to Mentally Competent – Now is the time to execute this document. You must be an adult (over 18) and mentally competent at the time the document is executed in order for it to be legally binding.
• You Can Make Changes at Any Time – All you have to do is provide your doctor with a written document that revokes your AHCD, and it becomes invalid. You can also issue a new document to replace your old one any time your wishes changes as long as you are still mentally competent at the time.

Help in Protecting Your Right to Make and Enforce Healthcare Choices

At Petrov Law Firm, we take seriously each individual’s right to make his or her own medical decisions. Including an AHCD as a part of your estate planning is a vital part of making these decisions in advance in the state of California. To learn more, contact our team today by calling 619-344-0360.

Situations that May Call for a Psychiatric Care Directive

Who Benefits from a Psychiatric Care Directive?
First of all, it is important to note that one does not to be suffering from any form of mental illness to have this type of directive. The document is in place to determine a person’s desires should he or she ever suffer from a mental disorder in the future. It can outline things such as desired forms of treatment as well as name persons who can make healthcare decisions on his or her behalf should the need arise.

If an individual suffers from a mental disorder, it is important for the person to be in the right frame of mind when the document is executed in order for it to be legal. If a person is deemed mentally incapacitated at the time the document is executed, it may be considered void.

Legal Advice Regarding Advanced Medical Directives
If you intend to execute any type of advanced medical directive, the estate planning attorneys at the Petrov Law Firm will be happy to help. This will ensure that the documents are executed properly, and your wishes will be upheld during a medical emergency whether psychiatric or otherwise.