Health care directive in Florida: form, signing and who decides
The form, who can witness, who can be your agent and who decides if you have no directive in Florida.
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Short answer
Designation of Health Care Surrogate
- Official form
- Designation of Health Care Surrogate
- How to sign
- Signed in front of two witnesses (no notary)
- Who decides without a directive
- Yes
The document and its form
- Document
- Designation of Health Care Surrogate
- Official form
- Designation of Health Care Surrogate (suggested form, Fla. Stat. 765.203)Published by Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (FloridaHealthFinder)Version: Revised 10/2021
You do not have to use it.
- Living will
Living Will
The living will is a separate document.
A living will tells doctors whether you want life-prolonging procedures if you have a terminal condition, an end-stage condition or are in a persistent vegetative state. Sign it in front of two witnesses; at least one must be neither your spouse nor a blood relative. If you cannot sign, one witness signs your name in your presence and at your direction. Tell your doctor you have one.
Law: Fla. Stat. §§ 765.202, 765.203; Fla. Stat. §§ 765.302, 765.303
Signing rules
- How to sign
Sign the designation in front of two adult witnesses, who also sign. A notary is not required. Give your surrogate an exact copy.
- Who signs
Signed by you. If you cannot sign, you can direct another person to sign your name in the witnesses' presence.
- Notary
- Not required
- Witnesses
- 2
- Who cannot witness
Two adult witnesses must sign. The person you name as surrogate cannot be a witness. At least one witness must be neither your spouse nor a blood relative.
Law: Fla. Stat. § 765.202(1)-(2)
Who can be your agent and what the agent can do
- Who cannot be your agent
Any competent adult can be your surrogate. You can name an alternate surrogate, and a separate surrogate for mental health treatment decisions.
Law: Fla. Stat. 765.101; 765.202(3), (5)
- When the agent starts
The surrogate's authority starts when your primary or attending physician finds that you lack capacity (a second physician must agree if the first has doubts) and stops when you regain capacity. You can instead choose to let the surrogate act or receive your health information right away.
Law: Fla. Stat. 765.202(6), 765.204
- Decisions an agent cannot make
Unless you expressly give this power in writing, or a court approves it, a surrogate or proxy cannot consent to abortion, sterilization, electroshock therapy, psychosurgery, experimental treatment not approved by a review board, or voluntary admission to a mental health facility, and cannot withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures from a pregnant patient before viability.
Law: Fla. Stat. 765.113
Revoking and conflicting documents
- Revoking your agent
You can change or revoke a designation at any time while you have capacity: by a signed, dated writing; by destroying it yourself or having someone destroy it in your presence at your direction; by saying so out loud; or by signing a new, materially different directive.
- Revoking your instructions
A living will and other advance directives are changed or revoked the same ways.
- Telling others
The change or revocation takes effect when it is communicated to your surrogate, health care provider or facility. No one is liable for failing to follow a revocation they did not actually know about.
- Divorce ends a spouse's authority
- Yes · Divorce rules in Florida (Divorce Law Map)
- Conflicting documents
If a health care surrogate designation and a power of attorney conflict, the surrogate designation controls unless the power of attorney was signed later and expressly says otherwise.
Law: Fla. Stat. 709.2109(3)(b)
Law: Fla. Stat. § 765.104
If you have no directive
- Who decides without a directive
If you have no directive or your surrogate is not available, a 'proxy' makes health care decisions in this order of priority. A proxy's decision to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures must be supported by clear and convincing evidence of what you would have chosen or of your best interest.
- Court-appointed guardian (or guardian advocate) authorized to consent to medical treatment
- Spouse
- Adult child (a majority of available adult children if more than one)
- Parent
- Adult sibling (a majority of available siblings if more than one)
- Adult relative who has shown special care and concern and kept regular contact
- Close friend
- Licensed clinical social worker, or graduate of a court-approved guardianship program, chosen by the provider's bioethics committee
Law: Fla. Stat. § 765.401
Other states, registry and medical orders
- Signed in another state
An advance directive signed in another state under that state's law or Florida law is valid in Florida.
Law: Fla. Stat. 765.112
- POLST (medical orders)
Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNRO), DH Form 1896 (revised 02/2024), printed on yellow paper; signed by your physician or physician assistant and by you or your surrogate, proxy, guardian or agent with health care authority
- Mental health directive
You can name a separate surrogate to consent to mental health treatment if a court finds you incompetent to consent and appoints a guardian advocate. If you do not, your health care surrogate is presumed to be your choice for mental health decisions.
Law: Fla. Stat. 765.202(5)
Law: Fla. Stat. § 401.45(3); Fla. Admin. Code R. 64J-2.018
Free notice: revoke or change a health care directive
Free help in Florida
- Florida Law Help (legal aid directory)
- FloridaHealthFinder (AHCA): Health Care Advance Directives guide and forms
- Ninth Judicial Circuit: Guardianship and Guardian Advocacy
Report abuse or exploitation
Florida Abuse Hotline (Department of Children and Families, Adult Protective Services) · 1-800-962-2873
Questions about powers of attorney in Florida
How do I sign a health care directive in Florida?
Sign the designation in front of two adult witnesses, who also sign. A notary is not required. Give your surrogate an exact copy.
Who decides my health care if I have no directive in Florida?
If you have no directive or your surrogate is not available, a 'proxy' makes health care decisions in this order of priority. A proxy's decision to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures must be supported by clear and convincing evidence of what you would have chosen or of your best interest.