Florida Healthcare Surrogate and Living Will: Your Healthcare Decisions
Healthcare decisions should remain in your control, even if you cannot speak for yourself. Florida provides legal tools to ensure your medical wishes are followed.
Quick Answer
A Florida healthcare surrogate is a person you legally designate to make medical decisions on your behalf when you cannot speak for yourself due to illness or incapacity. The designation is created in a written document signed before two witnesses, one of whom cannot be your spouse or blood relative. Your surrogate can consent to or refuse treatment, access your medical records, and speak with your healthcare providers — but only when your doctor determines you lack the capacity to decide for yourself. A living will is a separate document that records your specific wishes about end-of-life care, including whether you want life-prolonging procedures, artificial nutrition, or comfort care if you have a terminal condition or are in a persistent vegetative state. Without these documents, medical providers contact next of kin in a priority order set by Florida law, which may not reflect your wishes and can create family conflict. Florida law requires healthcare surrogates to follow your known wishes and act in your best interest at all times.
What happens if you become unable to make your own healthcare decisions? Without proper planning, your family may face difficult choices without knowing your wishes, or may need to go to court to obtain authority. Florida provides two important documents to address this: the healthcare surrogate designation and the living will.
Healthcare Surrogate Designation
A healthcare surrogate designation (also called a healthcare proxy) names someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you cannot make them yourself.
Who Can Serve: Any competent adult can serve as your healthcare surrogate. You should choose someone who:
When It Takes Effect: Your surrogate only has authority when your doctor determines you lack capacity to make your own decisions. Until then, you make all your own healthcare decisions.
What Your Surrogate Can Do:
Living Will
A living will (advance directive) expresses your wishes regarding end-of-life medical treatment. Unlike a healthcare surrogate who makes decisions, a living will provides instructions.
What It Addresses:
When It Applies: Living wills typically apply when you:
Florida Requirements
Both documents have specific requirements:
Healthcare Surrogate:
Living Will:
HIPAA Authorization
Federal privacy laws (HIPAA) prevent healthcare providers from sharing your medical information without authorization. A HIPAA authorization allows designated individuals to:
- Access your medical records
- Speak with your doctors
- Receive medical information
Without this authorization, even close family members may be blocked from your medical information.
Keeping Documents Current
Review your healthcare documents when:
- Your health status changes significantly
- Your designated surrogate is no longer appropriate
- Your wishes about treatment change
- You move to Florida from another state
Outdated documents may not reflect your current wishes or meet current legal requirements.
Making Your Wishes Known
Beyond legal documents, communicate your wishes to:
- Your healthcare surrogate
- Close family members
- Your physicians
- Your attorney
Written documents guide decisions, but discussions ensure everyone understands your values and preferences.
Contact our office to create or update your healthcare documents.