Advance Directive Documents in Florida

If you are in a serious car accident or wind up unconscious in the hospital with an illness or injury, who will make medical decisions for you? Who could tell your doctor what your wishes are for end-of-life care or if you want extraordinary means to be taken to keep you alive? Who would your doctor call to discuss these decisions with?

Who Can Make Healthcare Decisions for You if You Can’t?

Similarly, if your young adult child or disabled child over age 18 were injured seriously or in a hospital without the ability to convey their wishes in Florida, you as a parent would not have the right to make decisions on your child’s behalf without this signed Designation of Health Care Surrogate. You would have to go to court to fight for that right.

Our experienced estate planning attorneys will ensure that the document complies with all Florida statutory requirements and federal HIPAA regulations.

Gottlieb Wagner, PLLC’s estate planning attorneys also can prepare a living will for our clients in Florida. A living will is different from a Last Will and Testament in that it only specifies your wishes regarding life-sustaining devices and treatments. We recommend that all adults over age 18 have a living will. A living will must be revised continuously to remain current with new and evolving laws and may need to be changed if your thoughts change regarding being kept alive by extraordinary means.

Younger adults are more at risk of suffering severe accidents or being in trauma-related comas, otherwise known as a persistent vegetative state. They may desire to have any and all extraordinary means taken to preserve their lives. Seniors, on the other hand, may be in the hospital more frequently or suffer from heart attacks or other long-term or end-of-life illnesses which may cause a persistent vegetative state, prompting the need for a living will to limit unnecessary and undesired prolonged medical treatment and the taking of extraordinary measures.

No matter what your decision is, a living will can inform your doctor, the hospital and your family just what you would like to happen should the unthinkable occur and you end up in a persistent vegetative state, and unable to make health care decisions for yourself.

For more information about signing advance directive documents, please contact us online, or call us at 305-919-7788.

Our experienced estate planning attorneys offer flexible consultations—whether by phone, video conference, or in person at one of our conveniently located offices across Florida.