Make your health care wishes known
Create a Florida health care directive with FindLaw’s attorney-created forms and easy step-by-step process.
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Health Care Directive
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Florida health care directives without needing to leave home
Your loved ones might not know which treatments to choose or withhold for you if you ever become incapacitated and unable to make medical choices for yourself. In Florida, you can create a health care directive to make your health care and end-of-life treatment decisions clear. This can spare your nearest and dearest from having to guess about your wishes on these difficult decisions.
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How it works
The process takes less than an hour, and you can complete it from the comfort of your home.
Create an account
Create a secure account which is accessible through an easy dashboard you can access any time
Gather information
Decide who will be your health care agent/proxy, which treatments you would request or refuse and release your records
Complete your document
Answer all questions, then we’ll generate your digital documents for downloading, printing, and signing
Make it legal
Print and sign your document according to instructions. Give copies to your doctors and agent/proxy
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What’s next to make my Florida health care directive valid?
Follow these steps to validate your Florida health care directive:
Make decisions about your treatment options
Also known as an advanced directive, you can use a health care directive to specify your choices about whether you would want to receive life-prolonging treatments if you have a terminal condition. These choices would go into effect in the event that you are diagnosed with a terminal illness or are in a vegetative state. If you are unsure about these difficult choices, you should discuss them with your health care provider and trusted loved ones before committing to them.
Choose your health care surrogate
In Florida, you have the option of designating a trusted person as a health care surrogate. The health care surrogate’s duty is to make sure that your doctors carry out the terms of your health care directive. Also called a health care proxy or health agent, this is a person you choose to oversee your medical care in accordance with your health care directive. You should choose a surrogate who knows you well, and who is willing to take on this difficult task. It is a good idea to name an alternate surrogate who can take on this role if your first choice is unable.
Sign your health care directive
You must sign your health care directive or direct a witness to sign it for you. There should be two witnesses present at the time of signing. They should sign the health care directive too. At least one of your witnesses should not be your spouse or a blood relative.
Distribute your health care directive
After you have completed and signed your health care directive, don’t forget to distribute it to the right people. You should provide a copy to your close family members and your health care proxy (if you have one). Further, there are online registries that will store your health care directive for you. Through these services, your medical team can access your health care directive in the case of an emergency.
Update your health care directive
As a rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to review your health care directive every few years at a minimum. You should also take a fresh look at your health care directive any time you go through major changes in your life. If you get divorced, get a new medical diagnosis, move state, or simply change your mind, you should consider revising your estate plan. This includes your health care directive.
Commonly asked questions about Florida health care directives
A health care directive, not to be confused with a will, is a legal document that allows you to specify your treatment preferences on end-of-life health care issues. This document is legally binding and provides instructions that your health care providers will look to if you are seriously ill or injured.
A last will and testament (a “will”) is an important estate planning document that you use to provide for the distribution of your assets after your death. You can also use a will to name guardians for minor children.
You cannot use a will to specify your health care preferences or end-of-life treatment choices. If you want to make sure that your doctors and family follow your health care wishes, you need to create a health care directive to make your choices clear.
According to chapter 765 of the Florida statutes, there are a few legal requirements your Florida health care directive must satisfy:
- You must be a competent adult
- The health care directive must be in writing
- You must sign the health care directive
- There must be two witnesses to your signature who also sign.
Note that at least one of the witnesses must not be a spouse or a blood relative.
Unless you have a complicated situation, you can most likely complete your health care directive without meeting a lawyer. After you complete FindLaw’s guided process, which was developed by attorneys, you will receive a health care directive that is personalized to your state’s laws and your needs. If you would prefer to get attorney advice about filling out your FindLaw health care directive form, consider purchasing Attorney Advantage.
Yes. In Florida, a health care directive created in another state is valid if it complies with the laws of that state or with Florida’s laws.
However, if you have just gone through an interstate move, it is a good time to review your estate plan. This can help you to make sure it is current, correctly reflects your wishes, and complies with state law. With FindLaw, you can create a health care directive that’s customized to Florida law in less than an hour from the comfort of home.
A health care directive does not become effective just because you are hospitalized or go through a medical emergency. It only becomes operative in the event that you:
- Have a terminal condition
- Have an end-stage condition; or
- Are in a persistent vegetative state
The above conditions are medical diagnoses, which require the expert opinion of a medical doctor. Under Florida law, these diagnoses must be made by your primary physician in addition to at least one other doctor. Both physicians must examine you separately, and they must document and sign these determinations before they withdraw or withhold any life-prolonging procedures.
A divorce does not revoke your entire health care directive in Florida. But if you named your former spouse as your health care surrogate, a divorce revokes this provision.
If you would like to keep your former spouse as your health care surrogate, you should create a new health care directive to make this clear. If you would like to name a new health care surrogate, you will need to create a new health care directive to reflect this change. With FindLaw, you can make unlimited modifications to your health care directive for a year after purchase.
If you would like to change or revoke your health care directive, Florida law allows you to do so by:
- Stating your intention to change or revoke your health care directive verbally or in writing
- Physically destroying your health care directive or directing someone else to destroy it for you
- Creating a new health care directive that revokes your previous health care directive. You must sign and date this writing.
Whenever you change or revoke a prior health care directive, you should be sure to inform your loved ones and your health care surrogate. They should have a copy of your most current advanced directives so they can provide them to your medical team if necessary.
Remember that when you create a health care directive with FindLaw, you can make as many changes as needed for a full year after purchase.
You may want to speak with a lawyer if:
- Your family disagrees with your medical choices
- You don’t know who to appoint as your agent
- You have questions about life prolonging measures
- You want legal review of your completed document
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