Is my sister responsible for my aunt's hospital bills if she cannot afford them?

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Anna142 Asked August 2017

Is my sister responsible for my aunt's hospital bills if she cannot afford them?

My sister is obtaining guardianship over my aunt who is elderly.

Power of Attorney (POA)

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score 9 · Answer 1

The guardian is required to use the assets of the ward, not their own assets. So if your aunt has a bill, your sister--as guardian--has no personal liability for those bills. She must pay the bills out of your aunt's assets, if any, but that's as far as her liability goes.

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score 12 · Answer 2

Make sure your sister never signs her name on anything if your aunt is admitted into the hospital and unable to sign papers herself. Your sister could unknowingly be signing that she will be financially responsible. Normally you would sign the patients name followed by your name ie. John Smith by Mary Smith. In another thread someone suggested signing Mary Smith, in her capacity as POA for John Smith. NEVER sign just your name or you are assuming responsibility for all bills.

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score 11 · Answer 3

Absolute, never sign just your name. Always " Jane Doe, signing as power of attorney for John Smith." Be prepared that they will try to talk you out of adding the "signing as Power of attorney for....." part. They'll say, it's not needed on this one. Or that makes not difference on these paper, you have no obligation....etc." Don't listen. Always sign " as POA for..." ..The entire process of admitting your loved one into a hospital, or into extended care facility, is long, stressful, and requires many signatures. If your guard is down, they can easily talk you into leaving the "as POA" part off by merely speaking comforting ly to you. Don't fall for it. Also be aware that not all the papers are directly financial. The ECF will often also want you to sign a "binding arbitration agreement" giving up your right to sue in case of negliegience or injury to your family member. You may not have to sign that. ....For now, we are still under to Obama administration rules which tried to make that practice illegal (coercing people into sign away their rights at admission) . Trump administration is currently eliminating that Obama protection and they are legislating that it be mandatory that you sign away those rights on admission, not just optional, for all facilities that receive federal funds, (essentially all all of them) . Avoid this paper. So be very, very careful what you sign.

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score 5 · Answer 4

DoingbestIcan, The required signature giving up rights to sue in cases of negligence or injury have been around forever. And lawyers get rich helping people sue their way around those cases all the time.

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