Estate Planning
Estate Planning
Wills
A Florida Will provides instructions on how to distribute assets upon a person’s death. If you die without a will, your assets will be distributed to your spouse and children, and then your parents, siblings, nieces and nephews as proscribed by Florida Law. In a Will, a person may also ask the Court to appoint a guardian for minor children in the event of death.
Living Will & Health Care Surrogate
A Power of Attorney is a legal document delegating authority from one person to another. In the document, the maker of the Power of Attorney grants the right to act on the maker’s behalf. What authority is granted depends on the specific language of the Power of Attorney. A person giving a Power of Attorney may make it very broad or may limit it to certain specific acts.A Power of Attorney may be used to give another the right to sell a car, home or other property. A Power of Attorney might be used to allow another to sign a contract, make health care decisions, handle financial transactions, or sign legal documents for the maker of the Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney may give others the right to do almost any legal act that the maker of the Power of Attorney could do.
Living Will & Health Care Surrogate
When a person becomes unable to make decisions due to a physical or mental change, such as being in a coma or developing dementia, that person is considered to be incapacitated. Florida law recognizes the right of a competent adult to make an advance directive instructing a 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.
A Living Will 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. A health care surrogate 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. A person can also designate an alternate surrogate.
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