A Florida living will form is a written declaration, signed in front of two adult witnesses, that tells doctors whether to continue, withhold, or withdraw life-sustaining treatment if you develop a terminal condition, an end-stage condition, or a persistent vegetative state and can no longer speak for yourself. Florida does not require a notary. At least one of your two witnesses cannot be your spouse or a blood relative. Get the form right, distribute copies, and pair it with a health care surrogate designation, and the document will do its job when you need it to.
Where to Get the Form
The Florida Legislature includes a suggested living will form in Section 765.303 of the Florida Statutes, developed jointly by the Florida Bar and the Florida Medical Association. The form is offered as a convenience, not a mandate; your living will does not have to follow the exact statutory format to be valid. The Florida Bar directs people to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s website, where downloadable forms approved by the Supreme Court of Florida are available.
Whatever version you use, it should make clear whether you want life-prolonging procedures withheld or withdrawn if you develop a qualifying condition and cannot communicate. Under Florida law, a “life-prolonging procedure” is any medical treatment that sustains, restores, or replaces a spontaneous vital function. That definition explicitly includes artificially provided nutrition and hydration, such as feeding tubes and IV fluids. It does not include comfort care or pain medication, which continue regardless of what your directive says.
Signing and Witness Requirements
Two adult witnesses must watch you sign the document. At least one witness cannot be your spouse or a blood relative. No notary is required. If you are physically unable to sign, one of the witnesses can sign your name for you, but only in your presence and at your direction.
Florida also recognizes oral living wills, meaning a witnessed verbal statement about life-sustaining treatment. The oral option exists as a safety net. A written, witnessed document is far more reliable and far harder for anyone to dispute, so put your wishes on paper.
Writing In Your Specific Instructions
The statutory form gives you space to add your own instructions, and this is where the document becomes personal. You might address whether you want mechanical ventilation, dialysis, CPR, or specific medications. Precision helps. Vague language like “no extraordinary measures” invites disagreement among doctors and family; naming the specific treatments you do or don’t want avoids that.
You can also write in limitations that must be considered and satisfied before anyone acts on the declaration. Whatever conditions you put in the document travel with it.
When a Florida Living Will Takes Effect
Your living will sits dormant until a physician determines you meet one of three medical thresholds defined in Chapter 765 of the Florida Statutes:
- A terminal condition caused by injury, disease, or illness from which there is no reasonable medical probability of recovery and which, without treatment, can be expected to cause death.
- An end-stage condition, meaning an irreversible condition that has caused progressively severe and permanent deterioration, where treatment would be medically ineffective.
- A persistent vegetative state, a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness with no voluntary action, no cognitive behavior, and no ability to communicate or interact with the environment.
Your physician must also confirm that you have no reasonable medical probability of recovering the capacity to make your own decisions. Until both pieces are in place, the document does not authorize anything.
Distributing and Storing the Document
Completing the form is only half the job. Florida law places the responsibility on you to notify your primary physician that the living will exists. Once notified, the physician or health care facility must promptly place your living will, or a copy, into your medical records.
If you become incapacitated before you can notify anyone, the statute allows any other person to inform your doctor or the facility on your behalf. Give copies to your health care surrogate, close family members, and anyone likely to be present during a medical crisis. Keep the original in a location that is both secure and accessible, such as a fireproof home safe or a clearly labeled file. A bank safe deposit box is a poor choice because access often requires the account holder or a court order, creating delays when time matters most.
How to Change or Revoke Your Living Will
You can revoke a Florida living will at any time, as long as you are competent. The law recognizes several methods:
- Sign and date a written revocation.
- Physically destroy the document.
- Verbally tell someone you want it revoked.
- Execute a new living will that supersedes the old one.
No particular form is required for revocation. The key is that the act is voluntary and you have capacity when you do it.
If you revoke, notify your physician and anyone who holds a copy. A revocation you tell one family member about will not help if your doctor still has the original in your chart and acts on it. Treat revocation with the same distribution effort you gave the original.
Even if you don’t revoke, review your living will periodically after a major health change, a divorce, or every few years. Values around end-of-life care shift over time, and a document written at 40 may not reflect what you want at 70.
Pair It With a Health Care Surrogate Designation
A living will and a health care surrogate designation do different things, and you almost certainly want both. A living will is a set of instructions. A surrogate designation appoints a person.
Your living will speaks only to end-of-life situations, meaning the three qualifying conditions above. It tells doctors what to do but cannot answer follow-up questions, negotiate with insurance, or respond to unexpected complications. A health care surrogate is authorized to make any health care decision on your behalf whenever you are unable to do so, whether the situation is terminal or not. That includes consulting with doctors and accessing your medical records.
The surrogate designation is a separate signed document with two adult witnesses, and at least one witness cannot be your spouse or blood relative. The person you name as surrogate cannot serve as a witness. You can name an alternate in case your first choice is unavailable, and you can authorize the surrogate’s powers to kick in immediately rather than waiting for a formal incapacity determination.
When both documents exist, the surrogate’s job is to carry out the instructions in your living will. If your living will does not address a particular situation, the surrogate uses their judgment based on what they know about your values.
Using an Out-of-State Living Will
Florida recognizes an advance directive executed in another state if it was made in compliance with either that state’s law or Florida’s law. A living will signed in New York that met New York’s requirements will be honored in Florida. Each state sets its own rules for the reverse direction. If you split time between Florida and another state, the safest approach is a directive that meets both states’ requirements, or a separate document executed in each.
Penalties for Tampering
Florida treats interference with a living will as a crime. Anyone who conceals, destroys, or defaces your living will without your consent, and whose actions cause life-sustaining treatment to be used against your previously stated wishes, commits a third-degree felony. The offense becomes a second-degree felony if someone forges a living will or hides knowledge of a revocation with the intent to cause treatment to be withheld or withdrawn contrary to your wishes, and that act directly causes your death to be hastened.