Florida Statute 765.302
“Procedure for making a living will; notice to physician”
What it means
A living will is Florida's document for saying, in advance, what should happen with life-prolonging procedures if you have a terminal condition, an end-stage condition, or are in a persistent vegetative state. Any competent adult may make one at any time.
Execution is deliberately simple: the declaration is signed by the principal in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, and at least one witness must be neither a spouse nor a blood relative. A principal physically unable to sign may direct one of the witnesses to subscribe the principal's name. After signing, it is the principal's responsibility to tell the primary physician — providers must then make the living will part of the medical record.
- Available to any competent adult, at any time, for decisions about life-prolonging procedures.
- Speaks to three conditions: terminal condition, end-stage condition, or persistent vegetative state.
- Signed before two subscribing witnesses; at least one must be neither spouse nor blood relative. No notary required.
- A principal who cannot sign may direct a witness to subscribe the principal's signature in the principal's presence.
- Notifying the primary physician is the principal's responsibility; the document then goes into the medical record.
- A properly executed living will establishes a rebuttable presumption of clear and convincing evidence of the principal's wishes.
How it plays out
We prepare living wills alongside every surrogate designation, and the failure mode we see isn't drafting — it's distribution. A living will locked in a desk drawer, unknown to the physician and undiscovered until the probate file opens, decided nothing. The statute puts notification on the principal for a reason. We tell clients to hand copies to the surrogate and the primary physician the week they sign, and we keep one in the estate file, because the document only works if it's in the room when the three conditions it names are being discussed.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 765.302 does real work:
Questions people ask
