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Mom has dementia, congestive heart failure, and other ailments; has been receiving hospice care for more than 1 year; and lives in a memory care assisted-living facility. My sister (the agent) has made many decisions for mom in the past few years, especially this year, when there have been several occasions when mom has been "unresponsive" for an entire day. Yesterday, the hospice nurse decided the health-care POA should be activated. I think it's good this was made official; I'm a little surprised it wasn't done before now. I don't know what the trigger was; mom hasn't been worse than usual this week, as far as I know.When and how was your loved one's health-care POA activated?

This is likely a simple legal issue with this particular Hospice. If this agent has been doing BANKING using this POA, then it essentially IS activated. I think this is Hospice attempting now to get it "set in stone" or set in writing. Often they "get this way" if there is any family disagreement? Is there?

In any case, you are right. A good thing it is being done. You ask about our own. I was actually made POA and Trustee of Trust with my brother when he was diagnosed after a car accident with probable early Lewy's dementia by symptoms. That is to say normal scans and etc. but he had ALL the symptoms. So my brother himself asked me to take over everything for him. He sold his last little home and went into ALF we chose together for him. He put me as the manager on all accounts, made certain health care directives new and updated and etc. That is to say, knowing what was coming, we updated everything to remove any pressure off him. I managed everything and gave him monthly accountings. He died in Hospice after a tiny non-healing wound on his shin went to sepsis and antibiotics weren't effective. But as I always say, asking others what their own case was never much matters in yours, for your own things are individual as your own fingerprint. Goodluck Rose.
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The two Financial POAs I have had were immediate upon my Mom and nephew singing. I found that this is how it is in my State unless the principle wants conditions put in place. The Medical POAs were different. I had/have to have one doctor declare the principles incompetent to make informed decisions. This can be done in a hospital setting. A doctor needs an answer that for some reason the patient is not capable of answering so he invokes the Medical POA. The person holding the POA should go by the principles wishes. But my daughter, RN, has seen wishes overridden by a POA.
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The key issue is how the DPOA is written. It can be written so that one or two physicians need to declare that the person is incapable of handling their financial affairs OR it can be written so that it is effective immediately upon signing, whether or not it is activated at the time. An attorney advised us to avoid the former one, so my husband's was activated immediately. Also keep in mind that various organizations, eg, a bank or financial institution, the Social Security Administration, the VA, may require that their own form be completed before an agent may perform any interactions with that agency.
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pamela78702 Jan 3, 2026
I just re-read the original post and realized that I was responding about DPOA, not health-care POA. Hope the info is helpful to others anyway.
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Rosered6: My POA was activated upon my moving in to take care of my mother in her home from out of state.
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Rose, it is active immediately when you do it. You are MPOA. That ONLY means that you act WHEN/IF she cannot respond or act for herself. That would mean incompetent because of dementia, coma, et al. Then you act according to her health care wishes as you know them or a directive as written.

Unlike a general or financial POA, the MPOA is sort of PRN or "as needed". You register it with each hospitalization and with her MD. You will then be contacted when you are required to answer for her.
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Rosered6 Jan 10, 2026
In Wisconsin, if a person uses the state form, the form and the power do not take effect until there is a finding of incapacity.
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There's no family disagreement. My mom has had POA documents for many decades. One brother is the financial POA agent and has been doing all the financial stuff for several years. And as I indicated, my sister has been asked to make many health-care decisions this year. Everyone in the family is on board with that. I wonder whether someone with the hospice agency had an "oops" moment recently, as in, "oops, this person's health-care POA isn't activated but we've allowed family members to make her health-care decisions."
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I was under the impression that it was in effect once the person's signature was notarized, just that POA didn't have to act on it until necessary, as when the agent was obviously not able to reasonably make decisions.
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Slartibartfast Jan 3, 2026
Depends on how they’re written. For example some POAs specify that you have to have a letter from one or even two doctors saying the person is incompetent to handle their own affairs before the powers can be used. Others are just like you thought.
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I simply presented a COPY to the CEO of the facility. Also, the bank was given a COPY. All agents like insurance companies, etc., ask TO SEE THE ORIGINAL. However never part with the ORIGINAL.
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By "activate," I mean "take effect." In Wisconsin, the form that is available for free from the Department of Health Services states the following: "When does it take effect? Unless otherwise specified in the Power of Attorney for Health Care instrument (form), an individual’s Power of Attorney for Health Care takes effect upon a finding of incapacity by 2 physicians, or a physician and a
psychologist, as defined in State Statute 448.01 (5), or nurse practitioner, or physician assistant who personally examine the
principal and sign a statement specifying that the principal has incapacity. Mere old age, eccentricity, or physical disability, either singly or together, is insufficient to make a finding of incapacity." My parents first filled out health-care power of attorney forms about 30 years ago. My mom, now age 97, has redone or updated hers a few times since then. My siblings and I moved her to a memory care assisted-living facility a little over two years ago (December 2023). The health-care power of attorney was not activated until near the end of 2025.
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Alva, what kinds of questions do you think people should ask here?
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