What happens if a power of attorney dies?

I guess the obvious question is, when the POA papers were drawn up, was there no contingency for if the primary POA dies? If you were not designated secondary POA, as I am with my mother then you don't have a legal status as far as formally making decisions about money or her care. You would be "next of kin" but if you wanted to dispute or make an alternate plan of care beyond what her doctor is recommending, you would need to be the guardian. I would start by talking to the social worker at the facility to determine if a decision would need to be made, how would they handle it? Seems like the facility would be looking for an appointed decision maker or would institute guardianship proceedings to get one appointed.

You could ask the nursing home people how to go about this. They might know what to do. You could go to your Council on Aging and ask if there is a free lawyer available.

I don't know who told you the cost, but most POAs list a "...in the event of..." and name another person when the named POA is incapacitated, dies or no longer wishes to serve. Your doctor can write a letter stating your mother cannot mentally handle herself. Research your state but here is a link to a sampler

law.cuny.edu/academics/clinics/elder/Becoming-A-Guardian-Without-A-Lawyer.pdf

Good Luck

You stated she is in a VA facility. VA will assign her an advocate. I was POA for my dad and he still had an advocate. Have you applied for Aid & Assistance from the VA?. The advocate will help you do it. A&A is a monthly pension for her care. Many veterans aren't aware of the program.

Hm. I would recommend talking to the VA social worker, there should be one for the facility where your mom is.

What you should ask is what is their process when a resident is permanently incapacitated and has no durable POA for general affairs and finances?

The details vary from state to state, but in many cases, if the court considers guardianship, they are often inclined to choose family if any are available and seem reliable.

You could ask the VA social worker if there is any way that the VA might be able to help initiate such guardianship proceedings, perhaps that would make the process more affordable for you?

Otherwise, in most states, the law usually allows next-of-kin to make essential medical decisions, even if no DPOA has been signed. The VA social worker should be able to tell you how this would work at your mom's facility and VA medical center. Good luck!

Qquick ready answer

Find a paralegal (they work with attorneys but also have their own businesses on the side so to speak) who is EXTREMELY well informed regarding this issue.
The paralegal will help with the doc prep for motion to the Courtin most cases, file will even file the Motion for you.
From the start, the paralegal will help you through all the upcoming Court issues you will face.
PARALEGALS LIKE RNs KNOW MORE ABOUT HELPING YOU BECAUSE THAT'S THEIR JOB WORKING WITH THE ATTORNEY!
I did this BEFORE I had to hire an Attorney AFTER I became Mom's Guardian/conservator this past July.
The paralegal I had was ABSOLUTELY THE BEST. I live out of State and she did ALL of the filing etc for me....a flat rate of $750! The ONLY thing she could not do was being present in the Court room.
I represented myself (make sure all your ducks are in a row. Paralegal will help you) and I killed it!!!
ONLY reason I had to hire attorney....I'm taking step-siblings to Court for monetary issues. I will still need my Attorney after all is said and done....we all have them....those greedy family members who didn't care when the person was alive, but they want WHAT they THINK is theirs.

JUST BECAUSE ONE IS AN IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER OR A FEW TWIGS AWAY ON THE FAMILY TREE, DOES NOT MAKE THEM A PERSON ENTITLED TO AN INHERITANCE!!

****make sure you research the paralegal you're thinking of hiring. I did, she's wonderful AND we still communicate with each other. I love her like a daughter/friend****

My mother's D&M POAs name a primary and secondary as well as enable the secondary to name a new "secondary" when they assume the primary role on a permanent basis. Secondary is empowered to act whenever the primary isn't available but doesn't become primary until primary resigns, dies, or becomes permanently incapacitated.

For anyone who is preparing POAs I encourage you to consider this formula. Life is uncertain and an accident or unexpected illness can remove an option at any time. POAs need to stand the test of time - often a decade or two.

There was no POA in place when our father died unexpectedly in June this year. For the last 7 years he was my Mums full time carer. As she has Alzheimer’s disease and lacks the capacity to appoint us as POAs, my brother and I are applying for a ‘Deputy Order’ to appoint us to look after our Mother’s financial affairs under the supervision of the local Court. The DO is much more costly (£950 lawyers fee+£400 court costs) than the POA cost (approx £250 in the UK). This is our only option but will allow us to protect our mothers interests by acting on her behalf. Rather than applying to be appointed as her guardian, there may be a similar arrangement to the Deputy Order for you & your mother in the USA. It may be best to speak to a lawyer specialising in POA and Estates and a Legal Aid advisor in case you need to cover the legal fees initially. The legal process for our application will take about 8 weeks, we are keeping records and receipts for anything we spend on my Mums needs. So far we have had to pay for care home fees, fathers top up funeral costs (he had a plan in place which covered 2/3rds of the cost), Mums emergency dental treatment as her teeth were damaged in a fall last week. My savings are running low as I had to stop working for a few months, to be here for my mother and get her settled into a care home. If we had set up a POA when my mother was fully compus mentus, it would have saved a lot of money in legal fees and reduced the stress now being experienced.
Good luck with your situation, hope you find a suitable solution.

My mom was just diagnosed, with dementia, and I have had to file papers, with the local county court, for guardianship and conservatorship. She has fought me every step of the way. I would contact the court and see if you can bypass a lawyer. My total cost for lawyer has been $1750 for temporary and permanent guardianship & conservatorship(we live in Georgia). If there is an easy and inexpensive way, then I hope you find it. God Bless!

If she is incompetent she can not transfer durable power of attorney to anyone.

A person with dementia can still be deemed competent to appoint a DPOA, by a court. It depends on her level of dementia.

If she is still somewhat capable of cogent thinking, and will not object to you having DPOA, I think you need to become her Durable power of attorney or DPOA, asap, before she slides further into dementia.