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  • Our Firm
    • About Justin Stivers, Esq.
  • Services
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • IRA Inheritance Planning
    • Medicaid And Elder Law Services
      • Guardianship for Young Children
      • Options for Paying for Nursing Home Care
    • Minor Children and Young Adult Planning
    • Outdated Estate Planning Documents
    • Pet Planning
    • Powers of Attorney, Healthcare & Emergency Documents
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    • Trust Administration and Probate
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  • Free Webinars
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    • Relocating To Florida
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
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      • Top 10 Estate Planning Techniques
    • Elder Law Reports
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Health Care Surrogate: What You Need to Know

Date: April 15, 2021

Health Care Surrogate: What You Need to Know

Health Care Surrogate can help you make decisions when you can’t make them for yourself. What happens if you need medical care, but you are unable to make decisions about the kind of care you would like or how that care should be administered?

You can plan ahead in case you are ever incapacitated when a decision needs to be made about your medical care.  Advanced medical directives are a method for you to express your wishes for your own medical care. They are advanced because you are making these decisions before the medical care is necessary.  

Advanced medical directives include Healthcare Surrogate Designation and Living Wills.  For more information on Living Wills, read our article on that topic HERE.

When a medical decision must be made but the individual is incapacitated, those decisions often fall to spouses or close relatives.  Specifically designating a surrogate will help to ensure that your wishes are followed by your medical professional. 

What Is a Health Care Surrogate?

It is a Power of Attorney that is specifically granted to make medical decisions.  This means that if you are deemed unable to make medical care decisions, but a decision must be made, the designated individual can make the decisions on your behalf. 

In the Health Care Surrogate Designation, you are also able to decide who will be nominated to be appointed as your guardian if that becomes necessary.  

Sometimes people will have both a Living Will and designate someone to make medical decisions for them.  In the case that the two conflict it is important to make sure that an attorney helps you make clear which document will prevail.  

Why Should You Designate a Surrogate?

Unfortunately, if someone has not designated a Health Care Surrogate and an emergency medical decision needs to be made, the family members may disagree about how the doctor should proceed.  Not only does this delay the decision and burden the doctor, but it also detracts from the possibility of your actual wishes being carried out. 

By expressing your preferred Health Care Surrogate, you are conveying to the doctor your wishes for how the decision should be made.  

We recommend talking to the individual that you are going to designate as your Health Care Surrogate.  You should discuss with them that you intend to designate them as your Health Care Surrogate and make sure that they are willing to serve in this position for you.  Even though it is a difficult conversation to have, you should also discuss different scenarios in which they may be required to make a medical care decision on your behalf.  An open communication of your wishes is important so that the your designated surrogate can best act on your behalf. 

It is important to have an attorney help you draft the appropriate language so that you ensure your wishes are carried out.  Although we hope that your Health Care Surrogate will not need to make any medical decisions for you, it is necessary to have a legal document outlining your wishes.  In addition to this Designation, creating a Living Will is another way of ensuring your wishes are carried out. 

If you have any questions about designating a surrogate for your health care needs or want to know more about advanced medical directives and the essentials of an estate plan, contact Stivers Law.  We are here to help figure out the best options for you. 

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Justin Stivers
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Justin Stivers
Justin helps clients put together unique estate plans, including assistance with Trusts, Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Directives. He also works with clients to set up Special Needs Trusts for their children.

Justin serves as a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA), a national organization comprised of legal professionals concentrating on estate planning. As a member of the Academy, he receives ongoing, comprehensive training on modern estate planning techniques.
Justin Stivers
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Latest posts by Justin Stivers (see all)
  • Are Your Beneficiary Designations Current? - May 20, 2022
  • Trustee Compensation – What You Need to Know - May 19, 2022
  • 4 Common Probate Mistakes You Can Avoid Making - May 17, 2022

Category: Estate Planning

Date: April 15, 2021

Category: Estate Planning

Previous Post: «Coral Gables Medicaid planning attorney What You Need to Know about the Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program
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Stivers Law
110 Merrick Way Suite 2C
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Phone: (305) 456-3255

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Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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Office Location

Stivers Law
110 Merrick Way Suite 2C
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Phone: (305) 456-3255

See Larger Map Get Directions

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

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