A health care surrogate designation is a Florida-specific document that names someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to make them yourself.
This is different from a power of attorney, which generally covers financial matters. A health care surrogate document specifically addresses medical treatment decisions — things like surgery consent, medication choices, or end-of-life care preferences.
Without this document, if you’re incapacitated and haven’t named a surrogate, Florida law has a specific priority list of who can make decisions (spouse, then adult children, then parents, and so on). This can create conflict if family members disagree, or if the person Florida law would default to isn’t who you’d actually choose.
Naming your own health care surrogate avoids this ambiguity — you choose exactly who speaks for you, regardless of the legal default order.
It’s common to name a primary surrogate and an alternate, in case your first choice is unavailable when needed.
This document works hand-in-hand with a living will (discussed in another post in this series) to give your medical team and loved ones clear guidance during a difficult time.
