At first, we had what you have. But as dementia progressed, mom insisted she could live on her own. After reading a lot of histories here, we realized she could sign out and take a cab any time she chose to and the home could not stop her. We also realize that eventually she will need memory care or a full nursing home and she will absolutely refuse to go . So we petitioned for Guardianship. The court evaluator spent two hours listening to her ramble and talk in circles. He spoke to siblings who agreed she is not all there, and they don't want to care for her. The Head Nurse knew us well and agreed it was needed. At the very first hearing, full Guardianship was granted.
Thanks for your response. The medical POA states,"I want my agent to have full power to make health care decisions for me, including the power to decide where I should be treated, including where I should be in a hospital, nursing home or other medical care facility. Does that make a difference?
Your POA is fine as long as your mom doesn't get it in her head to contest it or, as Pam said, decide that she's leaving and is threatening to walk out. Your POA can't stop her if she does that. Only guardianship can. If you have guardianship you can legally make her stay in a nursing home or you can legally move her from her home to a nursing home, whatever the situation may be.
Sometimes POA is enough. It depends upon the person and the situation. Sometimes POA isn't enough.
The psychiatrist has written a letter of incapacity which states that my mother is unable to appear in court. Can I use my mother's money to pay for the costs of guardianship?
want2know, we had to wait for the judge to order who pays what. The attorney said that if we lost the petition, we pay. As it turned out the Judge approved the Guardianship and the payment from mom's funds.
Sometimes POA is enough. It depends upon the person and the situation. Sometimes POA isn't enough.