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The reason I ask is because my grandma when still considered of sound mind signed a durable power of attorney for me while we were living in CT. We are moving to Maine but she is unable to sign her name having severe dementia. Will this power of attorney still be good in Maine and allow me to place her in a nursing home when it's time? It's not like I can have her sign a new one anymore.

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Doing research into this for my parents in Illinois (and I am an Estate Advisor). Many states will honor another's POA's. Wouldn't hurt to double check. As for the person who said DPOA is healthcare, it is not. It means Durable and will be active through an incapacitation. Non-durable (dont' see too often anymore) means it stops at incapacitation and you enter "living Probate." Courts get involved just as probate after death. Sometimes there is medical language in the DPOA...but we usually like to see separate Financial and Medical POA's.
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I think you might check with a Maine estate planning attorney, or research Maine statutes, to determine what its requirements are and whether or not it has reciprocity with CT for a DPOA.
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I'm dealing with this right now and I think it is good. Check with the attorney who drew up the POA first and then consult with an elder law attorney in Maine.
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Was the DPOA notorized or just witnessed? We are doing one for a family member who lives out of state in PA. The form says of it is notorized it is more likely to be honored by another state. But it also says it does not have to be notorized to be honored. Check your gram's and see. Because of her condition if it is not notorized you may want to get her doc to write a letter to go along with the DPOA stating that at the time of the move she is no longer able to make decisions for herself.
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Ramiller - That is not true for every state evidently. I currently live in Florida and have a DPOA for my mother which was drawn up by our attorney. It give me access to all her finances including selling her house, giving gifts of money or other items and give me healthcare decision rights including rights to transfer her to healthcare facilities.
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Liz, I ran into that with my dad as well with VA requiring their own power of attorney, even though I already had one; just glad it wasn't questioned because he had already been diagnosed with dementia by then; actually just realized think they knew that already but then I think they weren't really too worried about it; they knew I'd been handling his VA business for years, just new fed regs required POA on file
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I had one for my parents in PA, and I am in MD. No problems at all with moving them here, selling thier home ( while they were both still alive) and No problems at thier banks. And the POA was probably 30 years old. Maybe I was lucky,, but it all worked out
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To clarify, DPOA is a generic term that means the document continues after the person becomes incapacitated as opposed to an ordinary POA that becomes invalid if they are incapacitated. There are separate POA's for Health and Finance. Usually the typical POA is for Finance not Health.
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I agree with GardenArtist, and if CTs is not recognized by Maine you might have to obtain Guardianship; a bit more costly.
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Durable Power of Attorney's are only portable if the comply with the laws of each state. I learned from experience that Pennsylvania has different requirements than California when it comes to an only child acting as POA for a parent. In addition, various institutions such as banks, mortgage companies, etc., may have different requirements. This can get very complicated because in the case of dementia, for example, if a POA is challenged years after it was drawn up, the person being represented may no longer be considered competent to sign or give their consent to revised documents. It is a good idea to advise the attorney drawing up the POA that you may need to travel, relocate or do business in other states.
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