Florida Living Will Information

Florida Living Will Information

Florida Living Will Information

A Florida Living Will is a witnessed written declaration that is voluntarily signed by a competent adult. A Living Will legally provides the person's consent in the form of written instructions expressing their desire to withhold, withdraw, or continue life-prolonging procedures if they are unable to give their attending physician informed consent by intentionally communicating their wishes themselves.

In a living will, a person may choose not to have any life-prolonging procedures applied at all, or only at a particular stage of their medical condition. As an example, a person may direct in their Living Will to have life-prolonging medical procedures applied if they have a terminal condition or an end stage condition, but that life-prolonging procedures that will artificially prolong the process of dying be removed if they are diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state.

To determine the person's medical state, the attending physician and a second physician have to conduct separate examinations of the person before life-prolonging medical procedures may be withheld or withdrawn as directed by the person in their Living Will.

Regardless of the instructions contained in the person's Living Will, the attending physician would still be allowed to administer medication or perform a medical procedure that would provide comfort to the person and to alleviate their pain. This is called palliative care

A person may also designate another person to act as their surrogate to carry out the person's directions made in their Living Will. If the person did not name a person to act as their surrogate, the attending physician would follow the directions the person made in their Living Will.

A person who has completed a Living Will needs to provide a copy of it to their attending physician and their health care facility so it can be included in their medical records.

If a person did not complete a living will, or appoint a health care surrogate and they are in a vegetative state, health care decisions may be made for the person by others listed in a specific order and under certain conditions by law. Some of the persons who can make health care decisions are a judicially appointed guardian, the person's spouse, an adult child of the person, a parent of the person, an adult sibling or an adult relative.

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