Guardianships are only considered when no other less restrictive means are available.  The laws have been written to provide for a person to create documents that will provide for that “Less restrictive means” while he or she has the capacity to sign and create legal documents on his/her own behalf.  These “Guardianship Substitute” documents are as follows:

• Durable Power of Attorney – This document is created by a competent person where he/she names another trusted person to handle issues related to financial matters and care management. It must be “Durable” and have specific language included in  order to be considered a Guardianship substitute document. See Florida Statute 709.08.

• Healthcare Surrogate - Healthcare surrogate document is created by a competent person where he/she names another person to make all healthcare decisions during any period of incapacity of the creator of the document. See Florida Statute 765 et seq.

• Living Will - This document directs the withholding or withdrawal of life prolonging procedures in the event one should have a terminal condition.  See Florida Statute 765.302,

Having the above mentioned documents saves the person, family members, and courts a lot of time and money when they have been created by a person prior to a Guardianship proceeding (Costs estimated upwards of $5,000) taking place and while the person was capable. It can ultimately result in saving thousands of dollars.  Drafting of the above documents with an elder law attorney who understands exactly what language must be in the document given each case should cost somewhere around $600.00 maximum.