Florida lawyers offer teachers going back to school ‘free living wills’ amidst the pandemic

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Association of lawyers in Florida helps out teachers in Florida required to teach physically by offering them free living wills.
• The group believes that teachers are also facing risk with the statewide order of shool reopening despite the recent surge of infections.
• The number of Florida COVID-19 cases have surpassed 400,000 on Friday.

Several Florida attorneys are offering either free or cut-rate living wills for educators who will be obliged to be physically present to schoolrooms this year.

Charles Gallagher from the law firm, Gallagher & Associates, said the story about three Arizona teachers who contracted coronavirus while working on a school project had inspired him. Unfortunately, one of the educators passed away due to the virus.

The firm from St. Petersburg was among those organizations who offer free living wills for the teachers. Gallagher added that along with other advocates, they are now cautioning about the dangers of sending children and teacher to school while the coronavirus is still out there.

The question on when and how schools should resume is still a concern, especially on Florida where the most prominent teacher’s union in the state is charging Gov. Ron DeSantis over his decision to open again public schools next month on a 100% capacity despite the surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.

Since promoting the free living wills, a legal deed that gives guidelines for an individual’s choice of medical method should medical care should they are no longer capable of speaking to doctors, Gallagher has received queries from around 600 teachers and other school staffers.

Attorneys like Jen Englert and Gallagher, the partner and organizer of The Orlando Law Group have been sponsoring the initiative to help people in their estate matters.

Englert confirmed that  800 teachers, mostly from the Central Florida region, have got in touched with the group in just a matter of two days.

 He said that the pandemic has somehow made people realize the importance of making plans for the estate, notably the isolation of COVID-19 patients away from their families.

Robert Allen, Pensacola criminal justice and family lawyer said he joins the efforts in offering discounts on wills because he thought of teachers also frontliners.

Allen advised that teachers are always exposed, and they should always make sure that they get a Power of Attorney. This legal record gives an authority to someone act the concerned person’s behalf in financial, business, health care instructions, real estate, and last living will.

This month, Education Commissioner of Florida Richard Corcoran, announced that all public schools resume this school year, citing the importance of physical interaction to the students’ social and academic growth.

Corcoran was included on the charges filed by the Florida Education Association.

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sets measures for school reopenings, which focused on the students physically going back to their rooms.

However, many believed that schools should remain closed in several states, including Florida, which exceeded 400,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday.

Source: AOL