My father has 7 adult children and no one is designated Power of Attorney. Can one of his children just take over for him and put him in a nursing home?

Your dad should get someone in charge with a Power Of Attorney for finances and a health directive for his health care. You may be able to place him in a home, but someone needs to pay the bills for your dad if he can't. That generally takes a POA. Please try to get something in place. People can put done 1st and 2nd POA, so there is someone in charge if the first person can't do the job.
Good luck,
Carol

Hi Joanne,

A big issue here is your father's mental competency. A POA might not be valid if it were determined that your father did not have the cognitive ability to sign that document. This is an important point -- without a valid POA, then the actions of whoever assumed responsibility might be challenged by other family members. That can lead to very, very nasty situations.

If your father is not mentally competent to sign a POA, then generally speaking your family would have to gain guardianship or custody of your father. This is a legal process that varies widely from state to state. It can be quite a long process, so if this is the route that you think would be needed, then you should get started sooner rather than later.