What it means
Any competent adult can decide, in advance, who should serve as their guardian if a court ever finds them incapacitated. The tool is a written declaration naming a preneed guardian, signed in the presence of two attesting witnesses present at the same time. It can be filed with the clerk of court, who produces it if a petition to determine incapacity is ever filed.
Produced in the proceeding, the declaration creates a rebuttable presumption that the named person is entitled to serve — though the court can pass over a nominee who is unqualified. The preneed guardian's duties begin immediately upon adjudication, with a petition to confirm the appointment due within 20 days.
- Made by written declaration, signed before two attesting witnesses present at the same time.
- May be filed with the clerk of court, who produces it when a petition to determine incapacity is filed.
- Creates a rebuttable presumption that the named person serves; an unqualified nominee can still be passed over.
- Duties begin immediately on adjudication of incapacity; the confirmation petition is due within 20 days.
- An alternate may be named, with the same presumption if the first choice cannot or will not serve.
How it plays out
Most contested guardianships we watch are fights over who, not whether. A filed §744.3045 declaration usually ends that fight before it starts — the judge opens the file and the answer is already there, in the ward's own words. We treat it as the third document of a basic Florida plan, next to the durable power of attorney and the health care surrogate: the first two often keep a guardianship from being needed at all, and the declaration controls who serves if one happens anyway.
Questions people ask
