Can the Agent Also Witness a Power of Attorney?
Full Question:
Answer:
In Florida. a will may be signed by an interested witness. However, an uninterested witness should sign if contest of the will is anticipated. A power of attorney isn't required to be witnessed. A health care agent appointed in a living will may be a witness, must be witnesses by two witnesses, one of whom isn't a spouse or blood relative. The recommended practice is to have unconnected third parties act as witnesses.
The following are FL statutes:
732.504 Who may witness. —
(1) Any person competent to be a witness may act as a
witness to a will.
(2) A will or codicil, or any part of either, is not invalid
because the will or codicil is signed by an interested
witness.
765.302 Procedure for making a living will; notice to
physician. —
(1) Any competent adult may, at any time, make a living
will or written declaration and direct the providing,
withholding, or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures in
the event that such person has a terminal condition, has an
end-stage condition, or is in a persistent vegetative state.
A living will must be signed by the principal in the presence
of two subscribing witnesses, one of whom is neither a
spouse nor a blood relative of the principal. If the
principal is physically unable to sign the living will, one
of the witnesses must subscribe the principal's signature in
the principal's presence and at the principal's direction.
(2) It is the responsibility of the principal to provide for
notification to her or his attending or treating physician
that the living will has been made. In the event the
principal is physically or mentally incapacitated at the
time the principal is admitted to a health care facility,
any other person may notify the physician or health care
facility of the existence of the living will. An attending
or treating physician or health care facility which is so
notified shall promptly make the living will or a copy
thereof a part of the principal's medical records.
(3) A living will, executed pursuant to this section,
establishes a rebuttable presumption of clear and convincing
evidence of the principal's wishes.