NOT A GOOD SIGN

Florida Lawyers Offering Free Living Wills to Teachers Who Have to Return to School

Several lawyers are offering free living wills that will assign someone to make their medical decisions if they are seriously ill.

Several lawyers in Florida are providing free living wills to teachers, which assign responsibility of a person’s medical choices should they become incapacitated. The move was started by Charles Gallagher, a St. Petersburg-area lawyer who was shocked by the deaths of three Arizona teachers who contracted COVID-19 after returning to school and by a sign in a protest by teachers that said, “Teacher supplies: books, crayons and wills.” Since advertising the free service, Gallagher said he has received inquiries from 600 teachers and other school employees. Jan Englert, an Orlando-area lawyer, partnered with a local radio station to offer the same free will service to teachers there. Her firm received 800 inquiries in two days.