Florida has an aging population and planning for incapacity is an important aspect of any estate plan. What will happen if you do not have a health care surrogate ? Who do you think makes those decisions for you? Your spouse, your kids, your parents? The short answer is it depends and its not something that should be left up to chance as illustrated by the tragic case of Terry Schiavo about ten years ago dealing with incapacity and lack of preparation. Unfortunately this is not an uncommon case, it is just a well known example of poorly planned estates or lack thereof that tell heirs nothing about what to do in the event of incapacitation.
- The Terri Schiavo case was a legal struggle that lasted over 15 years and the issue was whether or not to carry out the decision of the husband and legal guardian and to terminate life support.
- Terri was diagnosed by multiple physicians including an independant court appointed physician as being in a persistent vegetative state (sometimes abbreviated PVS).
- This diagnosis was debated by her parents who sought to keep her on life support.
- Schiavo had collapsed in St. Petersburg Florida due to full cardiac arrest in 1990, due to lack of oxygen she suffered massive brain damage and for the next two years recovery was attempted with no success. A court battled ensued about removing her feeding tube pursuant to Fla. Stat. 765.401(3) with the husband and parents on opposing sides.
- Ms. Schiavo was finally put to rest on March 31, 2005 after 14 appeals and numerous other litigation including executive action by the President of the United States, George W. Bush.
Think this just a freak accident and that it could never happen to you?
- This is pretty much the same story of Whitney Houston and Bobby Browns daughter – Bobbi Kristina Brown suffered severe brain damage after a drowning left her unconscious.
- In the Brown matter, the father Bobby Brown has the right to make all such decisions