Follow
Share

To remove the Principle from temporay living arangements of another family members home which has no POA what so ever, to hold the Principle whom suffers from Alzhiemers and the family member is pretty much stilling money from the Principle saying the principle whom is not in the right frame of mind okayed and signed 2 of her personal checks and without consent from the Agent who has DPOA of the Principle. The Police department told Agent that the DPOA that we had notarized was not legal and had to be filed in a court of law. Is this true in the state of California. Please advise. So we can take further legal actions and prosecute other family member who has no POA at all.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
tamipallan, if the principal had dementia and was unable to make decisions on her own at the time the DPOA was signed, then it is invalid. An incompetent person cannot authorize an agent to act on her behalf. She is assumed not to have the understanding to do that.

If she was competent at the time the document was signed but has become incapacitated since then, there has to be proof of that. Typically it is medical documentation and a court finding.

Not everyone who has dementia is incompetent to sign a will or execute a POA. As Glad points out, dementia covers a huge range of competency levels.

So, you think she is unable to make daily life decisions, but is there some official confirmation of that?

But the real issue here is whether other relatives are exploiting her financially. Do you have evidence of that?
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Tami, if a person has Alzheimer's Disease that does not automatically make them unable to make their own decisions. Much depends on the stage of the disease. Some are perfectly capable of making decisions for a number of years after diagnosis. Thus the reason for doctor statements.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Most POA's include instructions on what needs to happen for POA to take over decisions is the case with springing POA's. The document may require that determination of incapacity be made, in writing by two doctors that know the patient. The other type of POA is referred to as standing as it is in full forve at any time and does not require statment from docs related to incapacity.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Principle had alzhiemers disease ans is un able to make daily life decisions on her own.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

POA does not give one control over the person of the Principal. That means POA cannot determine where that person lives.

POA does not generally mean that the Principal can no longer sign her own checks and spend her own money, unless the Principal is incapacitated as describes in the POA document.

If other family members are stealing from the principal, whether they have POA or not, they should be reported. It sounds like you reported them to the police but they declined to investigate. (I don't think California requires DPOA documents to be registered, but perhaps the police were referring to the principal needing to be declared incompetent by a court of law before the DPOA could stop him or her from signing her own checks. That is true.)

You could report your suspicions to Adult Protective Services. They would be concerned if a vulnerable adult were being financially exploited. You will need to have some evidence to convince them this should be investigated.

If principal (let's call him/her "Pat") is living in someone's home, that someone can legally charge reasonable room-and-board. Pat can write them a check for that. Pat can give them money to meet his/her needs, such as picking up drugs or ordering her a new television. Those expenses would be considered above-board, unless they were exorbitant and exploitative. Pat could even give those people a monetary gift, but again if this were a very large amount it might signal some problems.

So before you call APS, it would be a good idea to find out what those checks were written for, and to document any other evidence that these relatives are taking advantage of Pat. It would also be wise to know what Pat's attitude toward this is. They will interview Pat.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter