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Get a new lawyer. I cannot think of any instance where one should not have a either a springing (comes into effect at an event such as incapacity of the principal) or durable (in effect at signing) power of attorney in place.
As suggested above, having a Medical Durable Power of Attorney in place is crucial to making health care decisions for a loved one when they are unable to do. This may also be called a "Health Care Surrogate" or "Health Care Proxy" in some jurisdications. Sometimes you will find the Health Care Powers contained in the Durable power.
Whether contained in the general powers document or not, a separate power of attorney, is required for financial and contractual matters. So essentially, your loved one should have both a Durable Power of Attorney AND a Health Care Surrogate "Power of Attorney".
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I agree with other comments. You will need a POA for both your parents. The other comments are giving you very sound advice. Their are long term care settings that specialize in Alzheimer's for example that will request a POA before they will admit your loved one to their setting. Wishing you strength, courage and happiness!
Deanna
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No, that is not true. My situation is similar. I take care of both my parents and also have medical power of attorney for my father. However, my mother is unable to give power of attorney. I am now in the process of getting conservatorship/guardianship for her and full power of attorney on my father. Because of privacy act and HIPPA, if anything happens to your mother that makes her unable to make decisions, neither you nor your father (even if they have been married for many years and never separated) will be able to access any information on her, even if it is info you provided. In addition, accounts are inaccessable unless they are joint accounts.
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You should have a DPOA for each individual, especially if your father's assets pass to your mother upon his death. At that point, his POA will expire automatically, and the POA you have for her will take over.
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I would suggest that you have DPOA on each of your parents both for health as well as financial matters. Contacting an eldercare attorney, or your area council on aging can also be of value- Having these documents in place-a/s/a/p can make things easier on everyone concerned. Lastly, there e is a lot of information online on this subject.
Brie, I do hope that this has been of some help to you on your caegiving journey.
Best~
Hap
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Please listen to the sound advise from the earlier e-mails. They are correct! You must have individual poa's for property or real estate affairs/medical poa for health decisions and wills if they are sound of mind. Handle this NOW to avoid any unneccesary complications later,you will give yourself PEACE OF MIND if you act now. Pray that all goes well for you and your parents.
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You definitely need a power of attorney for BOTH of them. My mom recently went to an assisted living facility (after living at home alone) and I had to have her home phone disconnected. Even though I am an "authorized user" on the account which makes me able to change her service, I could not have the phone disconnected unless I faxed them a POA!!! Things you may not even think about need a POA in place.
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I forgot to mention in my previous comment on this - if they are mentally alert, get them to ALSO sign a Durable Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney will only be in effect if they are mentally capable of signing and doing things - it just makes it easier for you to sign and do things without their signature. However, the moment they become mentally incapable - that POA is no longer valid and a Durable Power of Attorney must be in place - but they need to sign in now when they are mentally alert - it can NOT be signed once they've reached that point. Here in Florida it must be signed by 2 witnesses and notarized and the notary will ask them simple questions to verify that they are signing the Durable Power of Attorney when they are mentally capable. If they can't answer the simple questions, it won't get notorized. Here in Fl. I found that I did not need an attorney to draw either one up - I basically made my own by getting ideas off the internet, I included everything I could think of to put in it even if I didn't think it would affect them - why take a chance. As long as their signature is witnessed & they are notorized they are fine - but check your State first - since it seems each state has it's own rules. Get both a POA and a Durable Power of Attorney ASAP for everyone! It will save you a lot of grief later on.
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my parents each have a dpoa but each named a different agent
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