Advance Directives in Florida: Your Guide To Planning Ahead

Create advance directives tailored for your individual needs.

Advance directives aren’t just for the elderly or ill—they’re for anyone who wants control over their future healthcare decisions. Advance directives ensure your voice is heard, even when you can’t advocate for yourself.

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How To Create Your Advance Directives in Florida*

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reating advance directives in Florida ensures that your medical care preferences are honored if you become unable to communicate them. You have three main options: 1) using a specialized service (Buried in Work recommended), 2) drafting them yourself, or 3) working with a lawyer.

Each option offers flexibility based on your needs and budget, allowing you to choose the best approach for your unique circumstances and estate complexity. If you haven’t created advance directives yet, Buried in Work recommends using a specialized service for its convenience and the extra features these platforms often provide.

*If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Buried in Work may receive an affiliate commission.

Create Your Advance Directives With A Specialized Service

Working with a company dedicated to advance directives makes the process simple and personalized. You’ll get easy-to-use templates and clear steps for a legally sound plan, along with helpful features like ID cards and video instructions to ensure your wishes are accessible and understood when it matters most.

MIDEO: Clinician Guided Advanced Directives

Buried in Work recommends MIDEO for their easy-to-use platform, combining video and text-based advance directives. MIDEO ensures your preferences are accessible online and shared with your healthcare providers. Providing access to your advance directives via an online portal, wallet ID cards and emergency fridge magnets, MIDEO offers a modern, comprehensive solution to managing your advance directives.

Create Your Florida Specific Advance Directives ➡

Create Advance Directives On Your Own

While it is legally permissible to create your own advance directives in Florida, it’s crucial to ensure they fully comply with state laws to guarantee they will be honored when needed. One of the risks with do-it-yourself or paper-based advance directives is that they may not be legally binding, sufficiently comprehensive, or easily accessible when they are needed, which could lead to your wishes being misinterpreted or overlooked.

In Florida, you have three options for creating advance directives: via a specialized service, doing it on your own, or working with an attorney. We recommend using an online service that specializes exclusively in advance directive creation to ensure your documents are thorough, legally sound, and readily accessible, clearly conveying your healthcare wishes when it matters most.

MIDEO: Self-Guided

Buried in Work Recommended

Create your advance directives using MIDEO’s do-it-yourself platform.

  • Accessible & Modern: Your video and text-based advance directives are securely stored on an online platform, accessible anytime. You’ll also receive wallet ID cards and an emergency fridge magnet for quick reference.
  • Enhanced Care Coordination: Copies are distributed to your primary care physician, preferred hospital, and attorney, streamlining your care.
  • Cost: $99 setup & $9 a year, often covered by insurance or available for free. HSA/FSA eligible.
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Five Wishes

The original user-friendly advance directive used by more than 40 million people. Available in 30 languages.

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CaringInfo

A program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, CaringInfo provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers to make decisions about serious illness and end-of-life care and services.

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Florida Agency for Health Care Administration

Health Care Advance Directives Downloadable Forms produced and distributed by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

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Create Advance Directives With An Attorney

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Working with a lawyer to create your advance directives ensures that your documents are comprehensive, legally sound, and tailored to your unique circumstances.

This option is particularly beneficial for individuals with intricate medical preferences or family dynamics. By collaborating with a lawyer, you can have peace of mind knowing that your healthcare wishes will be clearly articulated and legally enforceable, providing the best protection for your future healthcare decisions.

Buried in Work’s attorney directory connects individuals with experienced estate planning attorneys in your area.

What You Need To Know About Advance Directives & Your Right To Decide in Florida

Every competent adult has the right to make decisions concerning his or her own health, including the right to choose or refuse medical treatment.

When a person becomes unable to make decisions due to a physical or mental change, such as being in a coma or developing dementia (like Alzheimer’s disease), they are considered incapacitated.

Only your primary physician can determine if you are incapacitated. To make sure that an incapacitated person’s decisions about health care will still be respected, the Florida legislature enacted legislation pertaining to health care advance directives (Chapter 765, Florida Statutes).

The law recognizes the right of a competent adult to make an advance directive instructing his or her physician to provide, withhold, or withdraw life-prolonging procedures; to designate another individual to make treatment decisions if the person becomes unable to make his or her own decisions; and/or to indicate the desire to make an anatomical donation after death. Additionally, the law states that you do not have to be incapacitated to elect a health care surrogate to make your decisions.

By law hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are required to provide their patients with written information concerning health care advance directives. The state rules that require this include 58A-2.0232, 59A-3.254, 59A-4.106, 59A-8.0245, and 59A-12.013, Florida Administrative Code.

Frequently Asked Questions About Advance Directives in Florida

Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to outline your preferences for medical care in case you become unable to communicate those decisions yourself. These documents are crucial in ensuring that your healthcare wishes are honored and that your loved ones are not left making difficult decisions on your behalf.

In Florida, advance directives include the Living Will, Health Care Surrogate Designation, and Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNRO).

Florida law recognizes the importance of planning for future healthcare needs. Without advance directives, your family and healthcare providers may be unsure of your wishes, leading to potential conflicts or decisions that may not align with your values. By setting up advance directives, you take control of your healthcare future, ensuring your preferences are respected even when you cannot speak for yourself.

Yes, advance directives are legally binding in Florida as long as they meet the state’s legal requirements, which include being signed by the individual and witnessed by two adults, one of whom cannot be a spouse or blood relative.

It is a written or oral statement of the kind of medical care you want or do not want if you become unable to make your own decisions. It is called a living will because it takes effect while you are still living. You may wish to speak to your health care provider or attorney to be certain you have completed the living will in a way that your wishes will be understood.

It is a document naming another person as your representative to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make them yourself. You can include instructions about any treatment you want or do not want, similar to a living will. You can also designate an alternate surrogate.

No, there is no legal requirement to complete an advance directive. However, if you have not made an advance directive, decisions about your health care or an anatomical donation may be made for you by a court-appointed guardian, your wife or husband, your adult child, your parent, your adult sibling, an adult relative, or a close friend.

The person making decisions for you may or may not be aware of your wishes. When you make an advance directive, and discuss it with the significant people in your life, it will better assure that your wishes will be carried out the way you want.

To ensure your advance directives are followed, it’s important to distribute copies to your healthcare surrogate, family members, and primary care physician. You may also want to carry a wallet card that indicates you have an advance directive and where it can be found.

Florida recognizes several types of advance directives, including a living will, a healthcare surrogate designation, and a do not resuscitate order (DNRO).

Yes, you can change or revoke your advance directives at any time, as long as you are mentally competent. Simply inform your healthcare providers and surrogates of the changes and destroy the old documents.

Florida generally honors advance directives from other states as long as they comply with the laws of the state in which they were created. However, it’s recommended to review and update your directives to ensure they align with Florida law.

While a lawyer can provide valuable guidance, you do not need a lawyer to create advance directives in Florida. However, legal advice may be helpful if you have complex medical or family situations.

To ensure your advance directives are accessible in an emergency, you can store them with an online service that offers 24/7 access, carry an ID card with relevant information, and provide copies to key individuals, such as your healthcare surrogate and primary physician.

If you do not have advance directives in place, Florida law allows for a close family member or friend to make healthcare decisions on your behalf. However, this may not fully reflect your wishes, and conflicts can arise among family members.


create your florda-specific advance directives

Creating advance directives in Florida is essential to make sure your wishes are honored if you’re ever unable to speak for yourself.