(1) An advance directive may be amended or revoked at any time by a competent principal:

(a) By means of a signed, dated writing;

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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 765.104

  • Advance directive: means a witnessed written document or oral statement in which instructions are given by a principal or in which the principal's desires are expressed concerning any aspect of the principal's health care or health information, and includes, but is not limited to, the designation of a health care surrogate, a living will, or an anatomical gift made pursuant to part V of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Health care: means care, services, or supplies related to the health of an individual and includes, but is not limited to, preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or palliative care, and counseling, service, assessment, or procedure with respect to the individual's physical or mental condition or functional status or that affect the structure or function of the individual's body. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • Health care facility: means a hospital, nursing home, hospice, home health agency, or health maintenance organization licensed in this state, or any facility subject to part I of chapter 394. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Principal: means a competent adult executing an advance directive and on whose behalf health care decisions are to be made or health care information is to be received, or both. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • provider: means any person licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to administer health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • Proxy: means a competent adult who has not been expressly designated to make health care decisions for a particular incapacitated individual, but who, nevertheless, is authorized pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • Surrogate: means any competent adult expressly designated by a principal to make health care decisions and to receive health information. See Florida Statutes 765.101
  • writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) By means of the physical cancellation or destruction of the advance directive by the principal or by another in the principal’s presence and at the principal’s direction;
(c) By means of an oral expression of intent to amend or revoke; or
(d) By means of a subsequently executed advance directive that is materially different from a previously executed advance directive.
(2) Unless otherwise provided in the advance directive or in an order of dissolution or annulment of marriage, the dissolution or annulment of marriage of the principal revokes the designation of the principal’s former spouse as a surrogate.
(3) Any such amendment or revocation will be effective when it is communicated to the surrogate, health care provider, or health care facility. No civil or criminal liability shall be imposed upon any person for a failure to act upon an amendment or revocation unless that person has actual knowledge of such amendment or revocation.
(4) Any patient for whom a medical proxy has been recognized under s. 765.401 and for whom any previous legal disability that precluded the patient’s ability to consent is removed may amend or revoke the recognition of the medical proxy and any uncompleted decision made by that proxy. The amendment or revocation takes effect when it is communicated to the proxy, the health care provider, or the health care facility in writing or, if communicated orally, in the presence of a third person.