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California Statutory Estate Planning Forms

California Statutory Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
Declaration Pursuant to California's Natural Death Act
California Statutory Durable Power of Attorney
California Statutory Form Will
Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit

Courtesy of Mark J. Welch, Attorney at Law
Last Updated May 4, 1997
See also Wills on the Web - famous & historical people's wills
Also see: Choice in Dying - Advance Directives for all 50 states
See also: Books about Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Law

Warning: Links to the following state-authorized forms are provided for convenience only. Use these forms at your own risk. You should consult with a California attorney who can provide specific legal advice after discussing your specific circumstances and needs. Do not use these forms if you do not live in California.
The following links are to the California State Legislature's ftp server, where the actual text of California's laws are stored in small "clumps." Unfortunately, I have noticed that some code sections are missing from the ftp server, and others contain typographical errors. Therfore, you may find it more useful to print out the statutory citations and travel to a local law library (usually found in or near each Superior Court branch, or at any law school).

Health Care Decisionmaking

Californa provides two different forms regarding health care directions. One is the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, which names an agent to make decisions when you cannot, and which permits you to indicate your specific desires for treatment. Every California adult resident should complete a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. The other form is the Declaration Pursuant to Natural Death Act, which provides specific language for what is commonly known as a "living will." I find that only a minority of my clients sign the latter form. Read any estate-planning form carefully before signing it. Please note that printed copies of these forms can be ordered from the California Medical Association (and from many doctors and hospitals). For information about ordering CMA forms, call (800) 882-1262 or (415) 882-5175. Note that this form was revised effective 1/96; beware of using older forms.

The California Statutory Form Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is described in Probate Code sections 4770-4779.

The Declaration Pursuant to Natural Death Act can be found in California Health and Safety Code sections 7185-7194.5.

Durable Power of Attorney (General/Financial)

The California Statutory Form Durable Power of Attorney allows you to designate an "agent" to manage your financial and personal affairs. Unlike the Health Care Power of Attorney, the general Durable Power of Attorney is immediately effective unless you indicate otherwise on the form. The general DPA form is quite powerful (and hence dangerous): your DPA agent could legally sell your home without any further signature from you. Do not sign any Power of Attorney without carefully considering the risks and benefits.

The California Statutory Form Durable Power of Attorney is described in California Probate Code sections 4400-4465. Unfortunately, the current version of the statute available from the California legislature's ftp server does not contain the text of the form, which appears in Probate Code Section 4401. In addition, the ftp server splits these provisions into two "clumps" of statutes: Probate Code Sections 4400-4409 and Probate Code Sections 4450-4465

California Statutory Form Will

An article in California Lawyer (June 1989) reported that more than half of the "statutory form wills" submitted for probate were rejected as invalid. The current California Statutory Form Will may be suitable for most situations, but it is not appropriate for a large number of Californians, especially those in "blended families" (remarried persons with children from a prior marriage). In addition, I have noticed that some publicly-available "form wills" and other estate-planning documents (including forms available over the Internet and some software sold in stores, as well as stationary-store forms) contain significant errors that would make them invalid (or of questionable validity) in California. Be very careful when using any form document, especially a form will.

The California Statutory Form Will is described in Probate Code sections 6200-6243. Unfortunately, the current version of the statute available from the California legislature's ftp server does not contain the text of the actual form. In addition, the ftp server splits these provisions into three "clumps" of statutes: Probate Code Sections 6200-6211 (definitions) and Probate Code Sections 6220-6227 (general provisions) and Probate Code Sections 6240-6243 (form and full text of clauses)
Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit (education & medical care for minors)

Go to the Table of Contents of "Estate Planning for California Residents."

See also Wills on the Web - famous & historical people's wills

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