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My wife and I want to have Durable Power of Attorney for each other in case one of us is incapacitated the other can make financial decisions.

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I went to an Elder Law Attorney who created all the legal documents that I needed and that of my parents. It was money well spent.

One can also try the legal websites, such as Legal Zoom.

I would not recommend getting blank forms and filling them out yourself. All it takes is one missing word or one misplaced word to create havoc down the road.
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You can buy the forms at an office supply store. Read them very carefully, because one simple error can make them totally useless. That's why we recommend a lawyer do it for you .
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Question please-my husbands mother is very ill now and has a 50% chance of getting better. She is in the hospital now. She has had mild demntia for 2 yrs now and was in assisted living. A grandaughter who said she did not want POA when the family talked about it but then in a few days after we left. she asked my husbands mom who was confused the entire time we were there to ok a POA. We just found out today! 4/20/16. Doesn't someone doing that have to send out a letter or even a certified letters to the actual children to approve or disaprove of their intent? You have to with a guardianship as I had to do to see if they(siblings of my dad) had a problem with it. Now this grandaughter is saying she can't make the hard decisions about my husbands mothers health. Can a child of the mother over ride that POA (durable) with a guardianship? Were we all to get a letter informing us of the POA? Mother is unable to do anything. She knows her name but doesn't even know she is critically ill. Can someone please help? Please!
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Mila, someone executing a POA does not need anyone's permission to do so as long as he/she is capable of making decisions. The children have no authority to approve or disapprove of a parent's choice. Guardianship is a different situation.

If the POA contains a provision authorizing the granddaughter to select someone else if she feels incapable of acting, then she can do so. If there are alternate proxies named, they can act without the need for a new POA. Otherwise, if your MIL is not able to understand executing a new POA, the only option I can see is applying for guardianship.

However, there's another alternative and that's for the family to come together to support the granddaughter and assist her in making decisions. It's cheaper and easier to deal with, if the family can cooperate, than paying the cost of guardianship, getting a court involved, and filing the necessary pleadings and reports with the court.

However, you write the granddaughter cannot make the necessary decisions about your MIL's health. If the POA is a financial/legal one, it doesn't give her the authority to do that, whether she can or can't do it. Only a medical POA, a/k/a Living Will, can authorize medical decisions.

So the questions are (a) is the POA executed a legal/financial or medical one? and (b) If it's not a medical one, has your MIL ever executed one?
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