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Advance Directive Vs. Living Will 
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Today's medical technology makes it possible to maintain people alive who have suffered brain injuries resulting from illness, accidents, violent attacks, infections, and strokes. Many of these patients will make a partial or full recovery after they come out of a short-term coma while others remain in a vegetative state with little hope to recover consciousness. If there is no living will, the next of kin or the person with a power of attorney decides on the fate of the patient. Many people are opting to write Living Wills to make sure that their wishes are carried out in this instance and avoid having their loved ones making this painful and difficult decision for them.
A Living Will is part of health care directives recognized by the State of Florida. A designation of health care surrogate and an anatomical donation are the other two health care directives.
A living will lawyer at The Berman Law Group in Boca Raton will draft and process a legal document that expresses your wishes regarding medical treatment, life-prolonging treatment such as life support, and end-of-life care instructions. Your Boca Raton lawyer will also answer any questions you have and ensure that your living will contains the proper wording and that it meets all Florida law requirements. As with any legal document, anything left to clarification is open to interpretation by the court, if contested. If you were not able to provide your consent or refuse treatment, the medical staff treating you would refer to your instructions in your living will. The State of Florida also allows a designation of health care surrogate. You also decide who receives a copy of your living will such as your doctor, spouse, and children.
A living trust, or revocable trust, contains instructions for the distribution of your assets after your death, just like a will. Living trusts are usually desirable by those who wish to avoid probate who want to maintain their asset distributions private. To determine if you need a living trust or a will, your lawyer will ask you questions and provide recommendations to help you decide. Wills and probate are part of public records. In contrast, trusts remain closed unless there's a request by the trustee or beneficiary for the court to approve accounts. It is also much harder to contest a trust than it is a will. There might be tax benefits to a trust for married couples, and avoiding probate means avoiding an often slow, expensive process.
An example of why you might need a trust is to cover your children's education in the event of your death. In such case, you would assign money to a bank, for example, to distribute funds towards your children's education expenses when and as needed. In that case, you would want the flexibility that a trust provides you. Purposeful in many circumstances, trusts are not necessary for everyone. Your Boca Raton estate planning lawyer at the Berman Law Group can determine if there's a need for you to have a trust. Your attorney can also review your existing trust and make any updates or adjustments to it.