Sample Florida Power of Attorney
What is a Florida Power of Attorney and How is It Used?
A power of attorney is a legal instrument assigning a trustee power to act as your proxy should you be incapacitated, disabled or unavailable. As the party handing over power, you are the principal and the person you hand over power to is your agent or the attorney-in-fact.
If you are frightened by the prospect of handing over all the power over your life and all in it, you shouldn’t be because can control the kind of power you hand over. In the free Florida power of attorney form, you will have to select the type of power or powers of attorney you wish to grant your agent.
Powers of Attorney – Types
Florida Durable Power of Attorney Laws
Covered under code section 765.201, et seq. of the Health Care Surrogate Act, this document guides on the legal arrangements to follow when you wish to authorize an individual on the big decisions regarding life support and artificial sustenance of life should you be incapacitated. As the agent, you get to decide whether the patient remains hooked to the respirator or not.
For execution, the state of Florida requires that that agent selected be a competent adult and that the document should be signed with two adults as witnesses. Note that the state of Florida recognizes the agent as a surrogate.
The agent is granted special powers to authorize health care procedures and life-supporting procedures, treatments or artificial interventions. The life-prolonging procedures are meant to sustain, supplant, or restore spontaneous vital functions whose main purpose is to prolong the dying process, especially if a patient has a terminal condition.
However, before you fill out the free power of attorney form in Florida, note that the directives issued to the agent do not include power over medications or medical procedures that offer comfort in pain. At the same time, the agent cannot withdraw or withhold any procedure that could extend the life of a pregnant patient before the fetus is viable.
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How is the POA document revoked?
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The letter authorizing control over the health of a principal is revocable at any time by the principal
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For the document to be deemed revocable, it should have the principal’s signature in writing and dated.
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Other than the revocation notice, the document is deemed revoked if destroyed
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If the principal gives an oral expression with the intention of revoking the document
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It’s also revoked in the presence of a new health care POA that differs materially from the advance directive executed previously.
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A divorce would revoke the power of the document if the former spouse were the principal’s agent or surrogate.
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Interstate Validity
If an advance POA directive that’s executed in another state complies with the state laws in Florida, then it is valid for execution.
What happens when the attending physician us unwilling to go through with the directives of the durable letter of authority?
If unwilling to act on the directives, an attending physician makes any reasonable attempts at transferring the patient to a physician willing to handle the case.
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If the attending physician’s unwillingness stems from their moral beliefs, then he or she should, within 7 days:
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Transfer the incapacitated patient and also cater for the transportation costs to the willing health care provider
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They also have to carry out the patient’s wishes unless different provisions or a judicial intervention exist.
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However, an attending physician acting in good faith will not be found liable for any criminal, civil or professional faults.
Florida General Non-Durable POA Law
This non-durable POA is covered under the 709.01 POA section that covers the issuance of authority to a nominee after the death of a principal.
According to this law, the agent must act lawfully after the principal dies, just as they would if the principal was alive. The legal requirement to act lawfully remains valid and legally binding whether the principal is alive or dead. The condition for the execution of authority should the principal be dead is that the agent should have acted in a bona fide manner without knowledge of the principal’s death at the time of action.
The agent must sign an affidavit stating that the agent did not have any knowledge of the principal’s death when executing the orders. In this case, the lack of knowledge will be conclusive proof of the absence of fraud on the agent’s end.
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According to section 709.015 of the non-durable POA laws, the following will happen to the agent’s authority should the principal go missing:
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The actions of the agent will remain valid and legally binding as if the principal were alive and binding should the principal disappear
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If the POA is required for execution and the delivery of any recordable document, the agent’s POA will remain valid.
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If requested, the agent has to make an affidavit showing that they were unaware of the incident
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The agent will execute directives for the property up to one year after the principal’s missing report.
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Florida Limited Power of Attorney Law
This law allows the principal to give the agent specific powers. It follows the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes in Section 5605 Title 20 stating that the document irrevocable unless the principal issues a notice to the agent and third parties involved.
Get your power of attorney forms from us today whether you live in Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, Tallahassee, Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale or any other city of Florida. Fill out the form above to get started.
Sample
FL Power of Attorney
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