Living Wills & Advance Directives Handling Every Case as if it were our own

Living Will Attorney in Jacksonville, FL

Advance Directive Preparation from Our Jacksonville Office

A living will answers one of the hardest questions your family could face: what do you want if you can no longer speak for yourself? Without one, Florida law hands that decision to a priority hierarchy of family members or, ultimately, a court-appointed guardian. Conflict, delays, and decisions that don’t reflect your values can follow. At Hedstrom Law, P.A., we prepare living wills and advance directives for Jacksonville clients as part of a dedicated estate planning practice, from our Jacksonville office, with attorneys you can sit across the table from.

We offer free consultations, including evenings and weekends, so getting started doesn’t require rearranging your schedule.

Ready to put your healthcare wishes in writing? Call our Jacksonville advance directive attorneys at (386) 357-3340 to schedule your free consultation.

Living Wills, Healthcare Surrogates & Pre-Need Guardians: What Florida Offers

Florida law provides three instruments that work together to cover your healthcare decisions before a crisis occurs. Understanding what each one does helps you choose the right combination for your situation.

Living Will
A living will states which life-prolonging procedures you do or don’t want if you have a terminal condition, an end-stage condition, or are in a persistent vegetative state. In plain language, life support refers to treatments that sustain vital bodily functions when you can’t do so independently. It speaks for you when you can’t. Under Florida Statutes Chapter 765, the document takes effect only after two physicians certify in writing that one of those conditions exists.

Healthcare Surrogate Designation
This document appoints a trusted person to make broader medical decisions on your behalf whenever you’re incapacitated, not just in end-of-life situations. Your surrogate can authorize treatment, request records, and communicate with providers in circumstances where a living will doesn’t yet apply. The two documents complement each other rather than overlap.

Pre-Need Guardian Designation
If a court ever needs to appoint a guardian for you, this document tells the court who you’d want in that role. It isn’t classified as an advance directive under Chapter 765, but it belongs in a complete incapacity plan and gives the court meaningful direction rather than leaving that choice entirely to judicial discretion.

Treatment Choices in a Florida Living Will

Florida defines a life-prolonging procedure as medical treatment or intervention that sustains, restores, or replaces a spontaneous vital function. A living will can address cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), mechanical ventilation, and artificial nutrition and hydration, including feeding-tube decisions. Medication and procedures needed for comfort care or pain relief aren’t included in Florida’s definition of a life-prolonging procedure.

A Florida Don’t Resuscitate Order is a separate, physician-signed form that directs paramedics and emergency medical technicians not to perform resuscitation during respiratory or cardiac arrest. It isn’t a substitute for a living will or another advance directive. The completed form must also be signed by the patient or an authorized decision-maker and appear on a full-page yellow background or yellow paper for emergency personnel to be required to honor it.

Once properly completed, the form doesn’t expire. A competent patient can revoke it orally or in writing.

Why Execution Matters As Much As Intent

A living will that isn’t properly executed can be unenforceable at exactly the moment it’s needed most. Florida Statute 765.302 requires the principal’s signature before two witnesses, at least one of whom is neither a spouse nor a blood relative. Notarization isn’t required, but the witness requirement is strict. Errors in that formality, ambiguous language, or failure to distribute copies to the right people can all create problems when time is short and emotions are high.

Florida’s suggested form under Florida Statute 765.303 is a starting point, not a ceiling. An attorney-drafted document can be tailored to reflect your actual values and healthcare preferences in language that leaves less room for misinterpretation. It’s also worth noting that Florida law permits a physician to decline to follow a living will on moral or ethical grounds, with an obligation to facilitate a transfer of care, so specific, clear language can give providers a clearer picture of your wishes.

Why Jacksonville Clients Choose Our Living Will Attorneys

Our Jacksonville clients work directly with our attorneys, not with a remote service or a document-processing platform. Dallas Hedstrom has been praised by clients specifically for her work on living wills, with one client noting that she assisted their parents with “knowledge and professionalism.” Another client described our team as thorough in explaining estate planning documents and what each one requires.

That relationship-based approach shapes how we work. We can explain what each document does, how it fits your broader situation, and what you need to do after signing so it’s accessible when it matters. Our familiarity with local legal and healthcare contexts means we can anticipate the practical questions that don’t appear in statutory forms.

Jacksonville office: In-person appointments with attorneys who know the local landscape
Free consultations: No cost to discuss your needs before committing
Evening and weekend availability: Scheduling that works around your life
Full estate planning practice: Advance directives coordinated with your will, trust, and power of attorney

Schedule Your Free Consultation

Putting advance directives in place is one of the most direct ways to help protect your family from a difficult and uncertain situation. We’re available for free consultations in our Jacksonville office, including evenings and weekends.

Call Hedstrom Law, P.A. at (386) 357-3340 to schedule your free consultation with a living will lawyer in Jacksonville.

How Advance Directives Fit Your Complete Florida Estate Plan

A living will and a healthcare surrogate designation address what happens to you medically during incapacity. They don’t govern your finances or your assets, and they have no effect on how your property is distributed after death. Authority over medical decisions is granted through a separate document from the financial authority discussed below. Those functions belong to separate documents, and a complete estate plan coordinates all of them.

A durable power of attorney appoints an agent to manage financial and property matters if you become incapacitated. It operates alongside your healthcare surrogate designation, not in place of it. Your last will and testament governs asset distribution after you pass and has no bearing on medical decisions made during your lifetime. Together, a living will, healthcare surrogate designation, durable power of attorney, and last will and testament cover both the financial and medical contingencies that incapacity and death can create.

At Hedstrom Law, P.A., we handle estate planning, trusts, and probate as connected practice areas, so your advance directives can be drafted alongside your other documents and reviewed as a unified plan rather than added later as an afterthought. These documents should also be revisited when your circumstances change significantly: a serious medical diagnosis, major surgery, marriage, divorce, or a change in the person you’d want as your surrogate.

After Signing: Making Sure Your Documents Are There When You Need Them

Execution is step one. What happens after signing determines whether your documents are actually accessible when they’re needed.

Notify Your Physicians
Under Florida Statute 765.302, it’s the principal’s responsibility to inform their primary physician that a living will exists. Don’t assume the hospital or clinic will discover it on their own.

Distribute Copies
Your healthcare surrogate, primary care physician, relevant specialists, and any healthcare facilities where you receive regular treatment should each have a copy. A document no one can locate offers no protection.

Store It Accessibly
A safe-deposit box is a reasonable place for your original, but it shouldn’t be the only place a copy exists. Family members should know where your documents are kept so they aren’t scrambling during a medical emergency.

Florida law allows a competent principal to revoke a living will at any time, in any manner, through a signed writing, physical destruction, an oral statement of intent, or a materially different later directive. The documents don’t expire under Florida law, but periodic review keeps them aligned with your current wishes and any changes to the relevant statutes.

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