Planning Ahead - Florida Developmental Disabilities Council

Can the Living Will and the Health Care Surrogate designation be revoked?Both the Living Will and the Designation of Health Care Surrogate may be revoked by the makerat any time by a signed and dated letter of revocation; by physically canceling or destroying theoriginal document; by an oral expression of one’s intent to revoke; or by means of a later executeddocument which is materially different from the former document. It is very importantto tell the attending physician that the Living Will and Designation of Health Care Surrogate hasbeen revoked.Where can I go to obtain legal advice on this issue?If you believe you need legal advice, call your attorney. If you do not have an attorney, call TheFlorida Bar Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-342-8011, or the local lawyer referral service or legalaid office listed in the yellow pages of your telephone book.CLIENT ADVOCATESection 393.0651, F.S., allows the Support Planning Committee of the Agency for Persons withDisabilities to appoint a family member or friend of the individual to become an official clientadvocate when the need for this is recognized. Client advocates may assume a variety of rolesdepending on the needs and wishes of each individual client. They may serve as guides andadvisors in developing the support plan, identifying appropriate services, considering the costsof those services, or help the individual with any decisions related to services to be providedthrough the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. However, they have no legislative authority.Co-signer of Bank AccountsThis is a way to exercise some degree of control over decision-making in expenditures by requiringmore than one signature on the check. It is an effective way to teach as well as supervisethe individual and can prevent financial exploitation by others. Provisions should be made forthe money in the account to be accessed if any of the signatories should die.Representative PayeeAn individual may be given authority by the Social Security Administration to receive and manageSocial Security (SSA) or Supplemental Security (SSI) benefits for another person found unableto manage his own money. The representative payee receives the benefit payment andspends the funds to meet the needs of the individual. The representative payee is requiredto account annually for expenditures made on behalf of the person for whom the money isintended.If none of these alternatives are adequate for your family member, then you may need to considersome level of guardianship.GUARDIANSHIPWhen a court appoints a person as a guardian, the person is then called his “ward”.Remember that you should only take away those rights that the person cannot handle. Thestatutes require that even when a right has been taken from the individual and given to aguardian or guardian advocate, the guardian is still required, to the extent possible, to consult38Chapter 8, Legal Ways of Protecting Rights