Can a daughter prevent a wife from seeing her husband with a POA?

Incompetency hearings don't happen in a void. They take time. Did the director tell you just when this all happened?

POA has to do with things like handling money and assets, signing contracts, etc. How can it be used to limit who can visit? Have you talked with the ALF director?

Apparently the move had been planned for some time -- you don't pick an ALF and waltz in the next day. So what is really going on here? Sounds like some major antagonizm.

Actually, it depends on what the document says. My cousins actually had a POA that gave them control of their mother's personal relationships. I've seen it myself, so I know the provision was there in the POA. I couldn't believe that any attorney would put such a provision in, much less that my aunt would have done so, but they did.

The only way to say he is incompetent is if he was deemed that in a court of law. Competency is legal term.

I understand that. I also understand that this POA and a move into an assisted living facility didn't happen overnight. There has to be more to this than anyone on this message board knows.

Did your mother receive any notice at all? Since she's legally his next of kin (assuming that their marriage hasn't been annulled by the stepdaughter and/or his other children), she should have received something from the court if he has been declared incompetent. You need to find an attorney for her and go with her to find out what in the world is going on.

You need to talk to an attorney. Your mother is his legal next of kin. Unless his daughter has gotten something legal that has ended the marriage and given her conservatorship over your stepfather, she would seem to be overstepping her bounds at the very least. What has the relationship been like between your mother and stepsister? Is it normally adversarial?

Just because she has POA, your father in law can do what ever he wants. She cannot tell him that he can't. As a matter of fact, your father in law can terminate the POA without any recourse from her. If he wants to see her, he can. I would suggest talking to an attorney. POA isn't control, it is the ability to control if needed.

And once again, it depends on what is in the POA itself. As I said earlier, my aunt gave control of her personal relationships to her children in the POA that she made.

Something else to consider is whether the stepfather is mentally competent to revoke a POA. If he isn't, the mother would have to take steps to be appointed as his legal conservator. That's a long and expensive process.

THANKS to all of you who have posted info. Here' s an update.
I did call the assisted living facility, and the director said that the daughter has a poa and has had Les declared incompetent (whether by a doctor or court, I don't know.) The daughter has forbidden my mom from taking Les out to lunch or back to their house - and, just recently, has even banned my mom from even seeing him. The director said that is because when my mom comes to visit, Les becomes agitated when she leaves. He wants out of the facility, and on several occasions, they have caused a scene about his being able to leave.

As for the move into the facility - it did happen over one weekend. I guess the place must have had a room available, but his children moved him out of his home and into the assisted living facility during the two days we were gone.