Florida Living Will Attorney: Your Instructions, in Writing, Before Your Family Has to Guess
Your end-of-life wishes deserve more than a downloaded form. At The Schoonover Law Firm, an experienced Florida attorney personally drafts your Living Will to strict statutory compliance under Florida Chapter 765, so your voice is legally binding when you cannot speak for yourself.
A Florida Living Will: Healthcare Planning That Speaks for You When You Cannot
A living will is a written legal document that records your medical preferences for end of life care before an emergency takes away your ability to communicate them. Technically called an advance healthcare directive under Chapter 765 of the Florida Statutes, it does one thing no family member or physician can do alone: it puts your wishes in writing so that no one has to guess, and no one has to fight about what you would have wanted.
A living will is one of the six essential documents in Florida estate planning. Preparation should happen long before you think you need it. The families who struggle most are those who believed they had more time.
A living will and a healthcare surrogate designation work as a pair. The living will speaks for you on the specific medical situations you addressed in writing. Your surrogate handles every decision your living will does not cover. Most Florida families need both documents one without the other leaves a gap.
Physicians Must Certify in Writing
A Florida living will only takes effect after two physicians independently certify in writing that you have a qualifying condition. It has no effect on routine medical care.
Notarization Required
Unlike most Florida estate documents, a living will requires only two witnesses, no notary. It can be validly executed even during a hospital stay.
Qualifying Conditions Recognized
Terminal illness, end stage condition, and persistent vegetative state, these are the three conditions under which your living will can take effect.
Right Time to Create This Document
A living will signed after incapacity begins is invalid. The only time this document can be created is before a health crisis, while you still have capacity.
Medical Decision Making: What You Can Address in a Florida Living Will
A Florida living will addresses the specific medical procedures you want to receive or refuse if you are in a qualifying condition and cannot communicate. Florida law allows you to express these preferences in as much detail as you choose.
Mechanical Ventilation
Whether to initiate or continue a breathing machine if you cannot breathe independently on your own.
Artificial Nutrition & Hydration
Whether to provide or withdraw tube feeding and intravenous fluids during a qualifying medical condition.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Whether to attempt to restart your heart if it stops, including specific preferences about CPR attempts.
Dialysis
Whether to filter your blood artificially if your kidneys fail, including time-limited trials before withdrawal.
Antibiotics & Treatment
Whether to treat infection aggressively or focus on comfort and at what point comfort care takes priority over life extension.
Palliative & Organ Donation
Explicit instructions to prioritize pain management and comfort over life extension, and your preferences about organ or tissue donation.
A Florida living will only activates after two physicians your attending physician and at least one other independently certify in writing that you have a qualifying condition and that no medical treatment can restore you to a meaningful quality of life, as required by Florida Statute §765.305. This two-physician requirement is one of the most important and least understood aspects of Florida living wills. It means the document has no effect on routine medical care.
Three Qualifying Conditions Under Florida Law
Your Florida living will can only take effect in one of these three specific medical conditions, after two physicians certify in writing that the condition is present and no treatment can restore meaningful quality of life.
Terminal Illness
A condition diagnosed by two physicians to be incurable and irreversible, where there can be no recovery and death is expected within a relatively short time even if treatment is provided.
End Stage Condition
An irreversible condition that is caused by injury, disease, or illness, and results in severe and permanent deterioration where treatment would only prolong the process of dying.
Persistent Vegetative State
A permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is no voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind, and no reasonable expectation of recovery.
Until both physicians make this written certification, your living will has no operative effect on your care whatsoever. The two-physician requirement is an important safeguard that prevents the document from affecting your treatment in any other medical situation so your regular care decisions remain entirely your own.
End of Life Decisions: What No One Wants to Talk About Until It Is Too Late
End of life decisions are deeply personal. What you want during a terminal illness may be very different from what your spouse, your children, or your doctor would choose for you. The value of a living will is not just legal it is emotional. It gives the people who love you permission to honor your wishes without guilt and without the paralyzing uncertainty of wondering whether they are making the right choice.
Florida law gives you full authority to express these preferences in as much detail as you choose. You can request every possible life sustaining measure. You can specify comfort and pain management over aggressive intervention. You can give different instructions for different conditions.
A timeframe for evaluating prognosis before withdrawing treatment, organ donation preferences, and any specific religious or cultural values that should guide your care. Attorney Schoonover reviews these considerations with every client before any document reaches the signature stage.
Two Documents With Completely Different Purposes
A living will and a last will and testament are not substitutes for each other. They serve entirely different purposes at entirely different times. Every complete estate plan includes both.
What Makes a Florida Living Will Legally Valid
Florida Statute §765.302 sets out the execution requirements. A document that misses any single requirement is legally invalid and will not be honored by hospitals or physicians at exactly the moment your family needs it most.
Must Be a Written Document
A Florida living will must be in writing. Verbal statements of your wishes even recorded on video do not constitute a valid living will under Florida law.
Two Adult Witnesses Must Sign Together
You must sign in the presence of two adult witnesses who also sign in your presence at the same time. At least one witness must not be your spouse or a blood relative. Your healthcare surrogate also cannot serve as a witness.
No Notarization Required
This surprises most people. Living will notarization is not required under Florida law unlike wills, trusts, and durable powers of attorney. The witness-only requirement means a living will can be executed even during a hospital stay when a notary is unavailable.
The Document Must Be Accessible When Needed
A living will sitting in a locked drawer does no good. Florida law encourages you to provide a copy to your attending physician, your healthcare surrogate, and any hospital or healthcare facility where you receive regular care. Attorney Schoonover advises every client on how to distribute and store the document.
She oversees the signing ceremony for every living will she prepares. Witness sequencing, eligibility, and condition-specific language are all completed correctly the first time. Online templates frequently fail the witness requirement or omit critical language that limits the document’s effectiveness when it matters most.
- Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2021 through 2026
- 2024 Elite Lawyer Award
- Florida Bar #124081, admitted September 2016
Your Living Will Attorney in Miami and South Florida
Attorney Yanitza Schoonover prepares every living will as part of a coordinated set of Florida estate planning documents. Your living will is reviewed alongside your healthcare surrogate designation, your durable power of attorney, and your will or trust so that all documents work together and your intentions are clear in every situation your family might face.
Years in Estate Law
Years Licensed
Consecutive Rising Stars
Weekly Availability
Your Living Will Attorney in South Florida
Online templates frequently fail the witness requirement or omit critical condition-specific language. Attorney Schoonover’s documents are drafted, witnessed, and distributed correctly the first time.
Attorney-Drafted Personally
Yanitza Schoonover, Florida Bar #124081, personally prepares every living will.
Signing Ceremony Overseen Correctly
Every execution is overseen to ensure witness eligibility, sequencing, and condition-specific language meet Florida Statute §765.302 the first time.
Flat Fee for Estate Planning
All fees confirmed in writing before work begins. No hourly billing. No surprises after you sign.
Extended Attorney Availability
In-person Mon–Fri until 5:00 PM by appointment. Phone and Zoom consultations Mon–Sun 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Bilingual, English and Spanish
Full consultations and document preparation available in Spanish. Hablamos español.
Every Document Coordinated
Your living will is reviewed alongside your healthcare surrogate, POA, will, and trust. Nothing conflicts. Nothing is left uncovered.
Areas We Serve
The Schoonover Law Firm serves clients statewide across Florida. Attorney Yanitza Schoonover is based at 6303 Waterford District Dr, Suite 400, Miami, FL 33126 and primarily serves families in the following areas.
Miami-Dade County
Miami, Hialeah, Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Homestead, Miami Gardens, North Miami, Doral, Aventura, Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, Miami Lakes, North Miami Beach, Opa-locka, Sweetwater, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Key Biscayne, Miami Shores, Surfside, Biscayne Park, El Portal, West Miami, Virginia Gardens, Medley, Hialeah Gardens, Florida City, North Bay Village, Bay Harbor Islands, Golden Beach, Miami Springs, Islandia, Westchester, Tamiami, Kendale Lakes, The Hammocks, Fountainebleau, University Park, Olympia Heights, Gladeview, Leisure City, Naranja, Princeton, Three Lakes, Country Club, Kendall
Broward County
Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Sunrise
Palm Beach County
Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Wellington, Greenacres
Attorney Yanitza Schoonover serves all South Florida. Call (305) 299-7496 for any Florida location not listed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Florida Living Wills
How do you create a living will in Florida?
To create a living will in Florida, you must prepare a written document stating your medical preferences, sign it in front of two adult witnesses, and have both witnesses sign in your presence. At least one witness must not be your spouse or blood relative. No notarization is required. The most common reason living wills fail is improper witnessing either the witness is a family member who is disqualified, or the witness signed at a different time or location than the principal. Attorney Schoonover oversees the signing ceremony for every living will she prepares to ensure this does not happen.
What is the difference between a living will and a healthcare surrogate designation in Florida?
A living will records your specific medical preferences in writing what procedures you want or do not want in defined medical conditions. A healthcare surrogate designation names the person who makes medical decisions for you when you cannot. Most Florida families need both documents working together: the living will speaks for you on the specific situations you addressed, and the surrogate handles everything else. If you only have a surrogate and no living will, the surrogate must make end of life decisions without written guidance from you. If you only have a living will and no surrogate, no one is formally authorized to implement your wishes or handle the medical decisions your living will does not cover.
Does a Florida living will require notarization?
No. Living will notarization is not required under Florida law. Florida Statute §765.302 requires two witnesses but no notary. This is one of the key differences between a living will and other Florida estate documents such as a last will and testament, a revocable trust, or a durable power of attorney, all of which generally require notarization. The witness-only requirement for a living will is actually helpful in urgent situations a living will can be validly executed during a hospital stay without needing to locate a notary.
When does a Florida living will take effect?
Florida does not recognize hologra
A Florida living will takes effect only when two physicians your attending physician and at least one other certify in writing that you have a terminal condition, an end stage condition, or are in a persistent vegetative state, and that no medical treatment can restore you to a meaningful quality of life under Florida Statute §765.305. Until both physicians make this written certification, your living will has no operative effect on your care. This two-physician requirement is an important safeguard that prevents the document from affecting your treatment in any other medical situation.
phic wills. Florida Statutes Section 732.502 requires all wills to be signed in the presence of 2 witnesses and notarized. A handwritten will that is not witnessed and notarized carries no legal weight in Florida probate court, regardless of the testator’s intent.
Can I change or revoke a Florida living will after signing it?
Yes, at any time, regardless of your mental or physical condition. Florida Statute §765.104 allows revocation by signing a new written declaration that supersedes the prior one, physically destroying the original document, orally telling your attending physician or healthcare surrogate of your intent to revoke, or any other clear expression of your wish to revoke. The most reliable revocation method is signing a new living will that explicitly states it supersedes all prior declarations. Attorney Schoonover recommends reviewing your living will whenever you experience a significant change in health, family circumstances, or personal values about medical treatment.
Do you offer living will consultations in Spanish?
Yes. All consultations and document preparation are fully available in Spanish. Hablamos español. Llámenos al (305) 299-7496.
Ready to Put Your Medical Wishes in Writing?
Call (305) 299-7496 or email info@estateplanningattorney.us. Attorney Schoonover reviews the specific medical scenarios you care about most, confirms the document addresses each qualifying condition correctly, and oversees the signing ceremony in full. A flat fee quote is delivered before any work begins.
Attorney Schoonover also prepares healthcare surrogate designations, durable powers of attorney, wills, revocable living trusts, and Lady Bird Deeds as part of a complete Florida estate plan all coordinated so no document conflicts with another.
Start With a Free Consultation
-
Email info@estateplanningattorney.us
-
Schedule a Free Consultation at estateplanningattorney.us
-
In-person meetings by appointment only.
-
English and Spanish, Hablamos Español
-
Flat fee for estate planning, fee quote provided before any work begins
