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My stepdaughter has decided to take over care of my husband who has dementia as I am 82 and unable to provide caregiver status any longer. She has now taken over his SS payment and other responsibilities. I think she may try to take POA from me as well.

The only way she can handle his social security is if he or social security appoint her as authorized representative and it seems like he is no longer able to do that.
She cannot just take over as POA and it sounds like he can no longer assign her to be
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Reply to Jada824
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No one can "take" someone's PoA authority. The original principal, if they have legal capacity, can reassign a new person. If their original PoA documents specified a second (back-up) PoA, then that whatever conditions for this to happen written into the document must be satisfied.

Otherwise, guardianship by a family member or assigned by the courts is the only thing that supercedes PoA.

Most elderly spouses would welcome the help, as being PoA can become a very busy responsibility. Did your spouse reassign her as his PoA? If not, and you wish to take care of all his affairs (medical and financial) now and into the future, then you need to show your document to her and tell her to stop as she has no legal ability to manage his affairs and make decisions on his behalf.

Blended marriages are full of minefields such as this. If you don't clarify exactly what your authority is and that you will do all of it, then it will snow ball into a power struggle that will harm your husband's care. But you need to make a decision about your willingness/ability to do this much oversight.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Only your husband can give POA to his daughter. She cannot "take" anything from him. You should be grateful to your stepdaughter for providing the care to your husband you're no longer capable of providing. She cannot do that for free, either, since care is expensive. It only stands to reason she's using his SS funds to do so and taking over other responsibilities he can no longer manage.

I suggest you maintain a good and positive relationship with his daughter so you can have open communication moving forward.

Good luck to you.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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