A medical emergency can leave you unable to explain what care you want. Florida law lets you prepare advance directives before that happens. Two common documents are a living will and a designation of healthcare surrogate. They serve different purposes but often work best together. A Florida estate planning lawyer can help you create both so your wishes are clear and the right person can speak for you.
What does a living will do?
A living will gives instructions about life-prolonging procedures. It applies when you cannot make your own healthcare decisions and you have an end-stage condition or a terminal condition. It can also apply if you are in a persistent vegetative state.
Before a life-prolonging procedure can be withdrawn or withheld, your primary physician and another consulting physician must examine you. Their findings must be placed in your medical record.
A living will can say whether you want treatment that would only artificially prolong the dying process. It may also address comfort care and pain relief. The document speaks for you when you cannot communicate.
What does a healthcare surrogate do?
A designation of healthcare surrogate names a trusted adult to make medical decisions for you. The surrogate may consent to care or refuse it. The document can also allow the surrogate to review health information and speak with providers.
The surrogate’s authority usually begins after a physician determines that you cannot make healthcare decisions. Florida law also lets you give the surrogate immediate authority. Even then, your own decisions control while you have capacity.
You can limit the surrogate’s authority. You can also name an alternate if your first choice is not willing or available.
How are the two documents different?
A living will states your wishes about life-prolonging treatment under certain serious medical conditions. A healthcare surrogate designation chooses the person who will make decisions when your written instructions do not answer every question.
A surrogate may need to approve surgery or choose a care facility. Those choices may arise even when the end-of-life conditions in a living will do not exist.
Do you need both documents?
Using both documents usually provides clearer protection. A living will gives the surrogate direct guidance about end-of-life care. The surrogate can then handle other decisions that the living will does not cover.
A Florida estate planning lawyer can make sure the documents do not conflict. Clear drafting can reduce doubt during an emergency.
A person may have a living will without naming a surrogate. Florida law can still allow a physician to follow it when the legal requirements are met. A surrogate may also make end-of-life decisions without a living will if the designation grants that authority and the statutory conditions exist.
How do you make the documents valid in Florida?
A Florida living will has to be signed in front of two adult witnesses. At least one witness cannot be your spouse or a blood relative. If you cannot physically sign, a witness may sign for you in your presence and at your direction.
A written healthcare surrogate designation also requires two adult witnesses. At least one must be neither a blood relative nor your spouse. The person you name as surrogate cannot witness that designation. Florida law does not require either document to be notarized.
After signing, give copies to your surrogate and your doctor. Keep another copy where your family can find it.
What happens if you have neither document?
Florida law provides a priority system for choosing a medical proxy when an incapacitated person has no available surrogate. A court-appointed guardian may serve first. A spouse may serve when no higher-priority person is available. Other relatives may follow under the statute.
That person may not know what you wanted. Family members may also disagree about who should speak or which care is right. Written directions can reduce that uncertainty.
When should you update your documents?
Review your documents after a marriage or divorce. You should also review them after a serious diagnosis or a change in family relationships. Florida law generally revokes a former spouse’s surrogate designation after divorce unless the directive or divorce order provides otherwise.
Estate Plan First helps Florida residents prepare advance directives that reflect their healthcare choices. To speak with a Florida estate planning lawyer about a living will or healthcare surrogate designation, call (904) 685-9828 or fill out the contact form on our website.
