Florida Elder Law

Florida Elder Law information, Living Will, contacts, links, instructions, help and resources.

What is a Living Will and why make one?

One fact almost anyone will agree on is the need to plan in order to be prepared. Death is not a topic considered lightly. Very few people want to think about it and even fewer want to talk about it.

Planning one’s own death can seem like a morbid act and even be depressing in nature. However, planning can avoid turmoil and considerable pain on those left behind when one is in the position to pass on. The result of this Floridas elder law planning is called a living will and it is an important component of Florida elder law.

Most sources define a living will as a legal document in which a person declares whether they want to be kept alive on life support or by using medical treatment in the event they become unable to make decisions for themselves.

A living will is very important because it informs health care professionals and family a person’s desire to be kept alive or let go.

Without this document, a hospital or other healthcare provider can continue to provide life support indefinitely. While this may sound positive, someone has to pay the cost of continued health care.

In the event a person becomes unable to decide their fate due to an unrecoverable injury or illness, a spouse or other close family member must come forward to ask that life support be suspended.

Without a living will in existence, family, friends, political groups, government officials, or even the hospital itself can meet this request with resistance. In fact, many similar cases have even been featured on the national news.

A person needs to consider if they want to subject their family and friends to this kind of attention and stress. For this reason, a living will is critical to protecting family and loved ones from continuing costs, legal, and political trouble.

An Explanation of Florida Living Will and Florida Elder Law

Like many other states in the United States, Florida has a unique set of laws regarding the creation of living wills. In fact, the Florida Senate advocates the creation of a living will.

They also recommend the posting of a living will in medical records and sharing the document with a spouse and family. Further information on Florida elder law regarding living wills can be found at the Florida Senate website, or by contacting an attorney that is familiar with Florida elder law.

Sections 765.302-303 of Florida statutes explain the procedure for making a living will. First, the statute states that any competent adult can make the decision to create a living will at any time. In addition, two witnesses that are not blood relatives of the person filling out the will must sign the document.

The law even allows someone to sign for the primary person the will is about if the primary person is unable to sign. The individual doing the signing must sign in the primary’s signature.

What is a Catholic or Christian Living Will?

For a Christian, considerations about death are even more critical than those who do not believe in the bible. Christians view human life as sacred and believe that their destiny lies with God. The views of many different Christian denominations vary when living wills are considered.

A living will is a legal document a person uses to declare whether they want to be kept alive through the use of life support equipment or let die without exhaustive use of equipment. In biblical teachings, to take a life (including one’s own) is wrong.

For this reason, the churches have different ideas about living wills, but most agree that using exhaustive medical measures to keep a body functioning is not necessary either. Consequently, many churches have designed their own living will forms to be filled out with the help of an attorney according to individual state laws.

Most Christians believe that a living will does not violate biblical premises; however, Christian living will forms are slightly different from the typical form.

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