Several documents make up a good estate plan, one of which is a Health Care Surrogate. What is a Health Care Surrogate? You can think of a Health Care Surrogate as a power of attorney but restricted to health care issues. For example, if you’re incapacitated, and a doctor needs your consent to give you a medication or perform a procedure, who can provide consent? Generally, they might rely upon a spouse to do that. But what’s going to happen if you don’t have a spouse? Anyone who is not your spouse, even a long-time partner, has no authority over you in this situation, and the doctor will not accept their instructions. If it’s something serious, you will need a guardian appointed to make those decisions for you, which is time-consuming and expensive! Keep in mind that this is not only for your benefit, but it’s also for the benefit of the doctor and the hospital. They want to feel secure someone has authorized that decision if they give you a drug or perform a procedure. That is where the Health Care Surrogate comes in handy because, more often than not, it’s usually an emergency when something is needed medically. You won’t have time to prepare the document, especially if the patient is unconscious and can’t sign. Welcome to our new recurring segment, “Ask the Attorney.” We get many frequently asked questions here at the firm. Each month, we’ll be picking one and sharing the answer with you. ASK THE ATTORNEY Do I Need a Health Care Surrogate?
Also, in the situation described above, if you are not married but have a significant other, it can become an issue if they want to visit you. If they are not authorized to see you without your consent and are not a relative, they could be prohibited from seeing you. As we have seen during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it has been difficult for relatives to see somebody in the hospital, so you should have a Health Care Surrogate in place if you and your life partner are not married. Finally, remember that Health Care Surrogates are statutorily created in each state. Therefore, you want to ensure your Health Care Surrogate form complies with Florida law. It may be an issue if you’ve come from another state and have not updated your documents.
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