What Types of Advance Directives are Available in Florida?
Living Wills, Health Care Surrogates, and Do not Resuscitate Orders are among the Advance Directives that allow a Florida resident to express his/her wishes for medical treatment. Each type of directive addresses a specific type of medical and legal situation. Below are brief explanations of how Advance Directives can serve your and your family’s needs.
Florida Living Will
A Living Will specifies what kind of life-extending care you do and don’t want if you are in a terminal or end-stage condition, or in a persistent vegetative state. A Living Will must comply with Florida Statutes Section 765.03 and must be properly executed and witnessed. One of the witnesses may not be a blood relative or spouse of the maker.
Your Florida Living Will does not actually state that you are in an end-stage condition or persistent vegetative state. It merely indicates what kinds of treatments you prefer if ever you are in such circumstances.
Creating a Living Will can be a great kindness to family members, relieving them of the agonizing decision of whether to commence, continue, or terminate life-sustaining treatments.
If you execute a Living Will, remember that it doesn’t do you or your family any good if it’s squirreled away in a safe deposit box. Let your physicians and family know it exists; provide them with copies; and keep the original accessible.
Health Care Surrogate
A Health Care Surrogate allows you to designate another person to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated in the opinion of the medical care provider and cannot express your own desires for medical treatment. Such a situation can arise not only as a result of permanent incapacity; it may be a temporary situation, for example, if you are under general anesthesia.
The Health Care Surrogate should also contain language granting your agent and other designated persons the right to receive your confidential medical information. This information is otherwise privileged, pursuant to the federal HIPAA laws.
Do Not Resuscitate Order
The Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNRO) is a document that must be signed by a physician and by you (or your health care surrogate). The document requests that no resuscitation techniques be used in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest. Emergency medical technicians must actually see this document in order to withhold resuscitation. Without seeing it, they are duty-bound to administer CPR.
Pre-Need Guardian
Guardianship is a court proceeding in which a Guardian exercises the legal rights of an incapacitated person who is unable to exercise his own rights. A Guardian may be an individual, or an institution such as a bank trust department, with the authority granted by the court to care for an incapacitated person and/or the incapacitated person’s assets.
You may name in a written instrument a “Pre-Need” Guardian – i.e., the individual you wish to be named as your Guardian in the event you become incapacitated. The court is not bound to appoint your desired Pre-Need Guardian for the job, but there is a presumption that the person you have named shall serve, unless he/she refuses to act, or is found to be unqualified.
Health Care Proxy
What if an individual has failed to appoint health care decision-makers, and becomes incapacitated? In this case, Florida statutes apply. Florida law enables these individuals to make health care decisions for a person, in descending order of priority:
- Guardian
- Spouse
- Adult child, or if more than one, a majority of the adult children who are reasonably available for consultation
- Parent
- Adult sibling, or if more than one, a majority of the adult siblings reasonably available for consultation
- Adult relative who has exhibited special care and concern for the patient, has maintained regular contact with the patient, and is generally familiar with the patient’s activities, health, and religious or moral beliefs
- Close friend
- Under specific circumstances, a clinical social worker
Anatomical Gifts Form
Any person who makes a will may also gift part or all of his body for medical research purposes. transplantation, tissue or organ preservation.
Learn more about our Health Care Planning Practice:
Client Review
Mr. Karp is knowledgeable and a professional in every sense of the word. He assisted my aunt in writing her will, and health care wishes when she moved to Florida from out of state. He guided her as if she was a lifelong friend even though he only met with her a few times.
5 Star Review – Anon
