Mental Health and Health Care Directives in Santa Clara County: Everything You Need to Know

Health care directives, which include the Living Will, Health Care Agent Designation, and HIPAA Medical Release, are necessary components of any estate plan. Health care issues occur more and more as we age, so it’s important to have the proper legal documentation in place to ensure we get the care we need. However, mental health is one issue that often does not come up when discussing health care directives since other health concerns, like heart failure and cancer, seem more pressing. But since mental health falls into the realm of health care, it is still covered by your health care directives in Santa Clara County.

Health care directives are a great help to those with mental health issues as it allows a loved one to help make decisions about care, discuss treatments and medications with doctors, and complete the paperwork that’s sometimes necessary to receive important mental health services. Estate planning attorneys advise their clients to choose someone they trust to act as health care agent since this person will have to advocate on your behalf—sometimes against the wishes of other loved ones—in these difficult situations.

However, it’s important to note that, in California, a health care directive does not cover certain mental health related items, such as involuntary commitment, electroconvulsive therapy, or sterilization. Because of the history of abuse of these powers in the past, these can only be accomplished through court proceedings. For other types of mental health treatment (such as particular drug therapies), you may wish to specifically allow or disallow your agent from consenting to those treatments on your behalf.

It’s important to note that without a health care directive in place, in cases where a person’s mental state renders them incapable of making legal decisions, a conservatorship hearing will need to be held at the probate court to give a caregiver the authority to make mental and physical health decisions.  Conservatorship can be a long and difficult process, and all decisions are ultimately left up to the court.

If you have further questions about health care directives in Santa Clara County and, more specifically, how to proceed with legal planning when a person’s mental health issues are a concern, please call us at (650) 422-3313 to set up an initial consultation.