October 10 is World Mental Health Day. A time to encourage honest conversations, challenge stigma, and consider how we can better support ourselves and the people around us.
The theme for World Mental Health Day 2026 is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.” It emphasizes that people should not simply be spoken about; their experiences, preferences, and voices should help shape the decisions that affect their lives.
That principle has an important place in estate planning.
A thoughtful estate plan is not only about distributing property after death. It can also help protect your voice, choices, and dignity during your lifetime—particularly if an illness, injury, emotional crisis, or period of incapacity makes it difficult to manage important decisions independently.
Why Does Mental Health Belong in an Estate Planning Conversation?
Mental health can affect every family, regardless of age, income, or background. Anxiety, depression, caregiver exhaustion, grief, trauma, and other challenges can influence how people process information, communicate, and manage daily responsibilities.
Estate planning cannot prevent difficult circumstances, but it can reduce confusion by answering important questions in advance:
- Who should help manage your finances if you cannot?
- Who do you trust to communicate with your physicians?
- Who understands your values and health care preferences?
- Would your family know where to find your documents?
- Have the people you selected agreed to serve?
- What responsibilities would need immediate attention if you became unavailable?
Addressing these questions while you are able to communicate your wishes can provide reassurance for both you and the people who care about you.
Does Having a Mental Health Condition Mean Someone Lacks Capacity?
No. A mental health diagnosis, participation in treatment, or hospitalization does not automatically mean a person lacks the ability to make legal or health care decisions.
Florida law specifically provides that incapacity to make health care decisions cannot be inferred merely from a person’s voluntary or involuntary hospitalization for mental illness. It also presumes that an adult can make their own health care decisions unless an appropriate determination of incapacity is made.
Capacity can depend on the particular decision and the person’s ability to understand its nature and consequences. Someone may need support in one area while remaining fully capable of making decisions in another.
Respecting mental health means avoiding assumptions and listening carefully to the individual.
What Documents Can Help Protect My Wishes?
The appropriate documents depend on your circumstances, but a comprehensive Florida estate plan may include:
A durable power of attorney
This document allows a trusted person to handle authorized financial or legal matters. Choosing the right person can help ensure that bills, insurance, property, and other responsibilities are managed if you need assistance.
A designation of health care surrogate
A health care surrogate can receive health information and, depending on the document and circumstances, make health care decisions for you. Florida law also permits the designation of an alternate surrogate if the first person is unavailable.
A living will
A living will communicates your preferences concerning life-prolonging treatment under qualifying circumstances. It helps your family and medical providers understand what you would want when you cannot communicate those wishes yourself.
A HIPAA authorization
This authorization can allow selected individuals to receive protected health information. Without appropriate authorization, even close family members may encounter limitations when seeking information.
A will or trust
A will or trust can establish how your property should be managed and distributed. A properly funded trust may also provide continuity in managing trust assets if you become unable to serve as trustee.
The Florida Bar's consumer guidance offers additional information about living wills, health care surrogates, and advance directives.
Who Should I Choose to Help Me?
The best person is not always the oldest child, closest relative, or person who lives nearby.
Ask yourself:
- Does this person remain calm during stressful situations?
- Will they listen to my wishes, even if their preferences are different?
- Are they organized and dependable?
- Can they communicate respectfully with family members and professionals?
- Are they willing to ask for help when necessary?
- Have I spoken with them about the responsibility?
- Should I name an alternate in case my first choice cannot serve?
A person’s willingness to act is just as important as their relationship to you.
Can an Estate Plan Address My Personal Care Preferences?
Legal documents have limits, but they can be supported by clear conversations and written guidance.
You may want trusted people to understand:
- The physicians and mental health professionals involved in your care
- The people you would want contacted
- The routines that help you feel safe and supported
- Your communication preferences
- Religious or personal values that influence your care
- Responsibilities involving children, pets, or dependent adults
- Where important documents and account information are stored
This information should be reviewed periodically. Relationships, health needs, medications, providers, and personal preferences can change.
What If Grief or Caregiving Is Affecting My Mental Health?
Probate, trust administration, and caregiving can be emotionally demanding. A person may be grieving while simultaneously being asked to locate records, communicate with beneficiaries, maintain property, meet legal deadlines, and make financial decisions.
If you are serving as a personal representative, trustee, agent, or caregiver, consider asking:
- Which responsibilities must be addressed immediately?
- Which decisions can wait?
- What tasks can be delegated?
- Have I asked the attorney to explain the next step in plain language?
- Am I making decisions while exhausted, overwhelmed, or emotionally distressed?
- Do I need assistance from a counselor, physician, support group, or trusted family member?
Seeking support does not mean you are failing. It may help you make more careful decisions and protect your own well-being.
Questions Worth Asking Yourself Today
World Mental Health Day invites us to pause and listen—not only to others, but also to ourselves.
Consider these questions:
- How am I genuinely doing right now?
- Do the people closest to me know what kind of support I would want?
- Who could step in if I needed help managing health care or finances?
- Have I chosen people who will respect my voice?
- Are my estate-planning documents current?
- Would my family know where to find them?
- Am I carrying responsibilities that I need help sharing?
- Have I avoided planning because the subject feels uncomfortable?
- Who can I speak with when I feel overwhelmed?
- What is one manageable step I can take this week?
Planning Is an Act of Care
Estate planning is sometimes treated as a conversation about death. In reality, much of it concerns life: how you want to be treated, who you trust, what matters to you, and how your loved ones can support you.
A plan cannot eliminate grief, illness, or emotional hardship. It can, however, reduce uncertainty and give the people you trust a clearer path forward.
At Yergey & Yergey, P.A., we believe that meaningful planning begins by listening. Your experiences, values, concerns, and wishes should remain at the center of the conversation.
If it has been some time since your documents were reviewed—or if changes in your health, family, or responsibilities have caused you to reconsider your plan—our office is available to help you take the next step.
This article is intended as a general overview and does not address every fact pattern or recent change in Florida law. Florida statutes are amended regularly; consult a Florida-licensed attorney for guidance specific to your matter.
