A Dementia Living Will is specifically designed to address advance care planning in cases of dementia. In order to be effective, the document must be combined with a Designation of Advance Healthcare Surrogate and a Living Will.
For many people with dementia, there can be a number of years between losing the ability to make medical decisions and the point at which a living will would take effect. Multiple medical issues can occur during those years, and a lack of information leaves your healthcare surrogates unprepared.
The purpose of the Dementia Living Will is to provide information to your health care surrogate in case you develop dementia. It is intended to serve as a communication tool so your surrogate is aware of your medical choices regarding medical issues that are common during dementia.
The document can be completed by anyone over the age of 18 and is particularly helpful for those who are concerned about a diagnosis of dementia in the future and those individuals who have been diagnosed with early dementia are still capable of making their own medical choices.
Disclaimer: If properly drafted and executed with witnesses the document should comply with Florida law. However, with any new legal document, there may be some legal issues. In the case of any challenge to legality, a signed and witnessed documents will provide a presumption of “clear and convincing evidence of the principal’s wishes”.
The Law Office of Debra G. Simms now offers a Dementia Living Will.
Questions? The Law Office of Debra Simms is here to help. Call us today 386.256.4882
This blog post is not case-specific and is provided only for educational purposes and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. Blog topics may or may not be updated and entries may be out-of-date at the time you view them.
