State guide
Advance Directive Forms in Florida
By Jason Su · Sources last confirmed September 15
We link to official sources only. We are not a law firm and we never write legal documents. The form you sign must come from an official or authorised source in your state.
What this document does
An advance directive is where you write down the healthcare treatment you would and would not want if you could not speak for yourself. In most states it also names a healthcare agent — the person who speaks for you when you cannot.
Where to get the Florida form
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) publishes the current form here: https://quality.healthfinder.fl.gov/report-guides/advance-directives
Florida law provides sample forms for a living will and a health care surrogate.
Why Florida gives you two separate documents
Florida keeps the two jobs in two documents, and the names are worth getting right because your hospital and your family will both use them. The Designation of Health Care Surrogate names the person who speaks for you. The Living Will records the treatment you would and would not want.
The names have history behind them. Florida law includes sample forms for both in its own statutes, which makes these genuinely different from a private company's template — the state describes the wording itself. Using the state's version means nobody has to argue later about whether what you signed was the right shape.
The practical risk with a two-document state is signing only one. A surrogate with no living will has to guess at your wishes in the moment that matters most. A living will with no surrogate records your wishes but leaves nobody with the authority to speak for you, so your wishes can be read and still not acted on.
Florida families are best served by completing both, and they are usually signed on the same day in front of the same witnesses. If you already have one and not the other, closing that gap is the single highest-value hour you can spend.
Not every Florida hospital visitor packet contains both documents. If you are handed only a Designation of Health Care Surrogate, ask specifically for the Living Will as well.
National resources
- USA.gov — Official U.S. government portal.
- Medicare.gov — Official Medicare information.
After you sign it
- Sign it the way Florida requires. Many states need witnesses or a notary. The form itself says which — follow the form, not a blog.
- Give copies to your healthcare agent and your doctor. A form nobody can find is a form that does not work.
- Keep the original somewhere reachable — not locked in a safe deposit box that needs a bank visit during an emergency.
- Add it to your checklist so your trusted contact knows it exists and where it lives.
Frequently asked
Is the Florida advance directive form free?
Yes. Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) publishes the current form free of charge, and we link to the official source only.
Do I need a lawyer to complete the Florida form?
No. You can complete the form yourself. It must be signed the way Florida law requires — usually with witnesses or a notary — so follow the instructions printed on the form itself.
Where should I keep my signed Florida advance directive?
Give copies to your healthcare agent and your doctor, and keep the original somewhere reachable at home — not locked in a safe deposit box that needs a bank visit during an emergency.
Next: build your checklist and record where this form is kept.