Power of Attorney?

[MLB 51]

My Mother in law is very sick. My wife and I would like to remove her step dad as the one making the decisions. Any one know how I do this?

[NUance]

If she's conscious, and agrees to the change, it shouldn't be difficult to implement. Hospitals often have the patient sign a power of attorney form so they know who will be calling the shots if things go downhill. If she's not in a hospital yet you may have her lawyer work up something for you. Or I suppose you could hop on the google and download a template form yourself. But for something that important I'd think a few bucks spent for a lawyer might be warranted.

[MLB 51]

If she's conscious, and agrees to the change, it shouldn't be difficult to implement. Hospitals often have the patient sign a power of attorney form so they know who will be calling the shots if things go downhill. If she's not in a hospital yet you may have her lawyer work up something for you. Or I suppose you could hop on the google and download a template form yourself. But for something that important I'd think a few bucks spent for a lawyer might be warranted.

Thank you. She is in the hospital at this time. My wife will probably take care of it today. Once again, Thank you.

[NUance]

Perhaps your wife should speak with her about whether she wants to be DNR (do not resuscitate), or would prefer for the hospital to take various measures to maintain her life—that is, put her on a ventilator with feeding tubes etc. If it’s a certainty that she’s going to die then DNR may be appropriate. However, if there is a chance she will recover and have a few more good months, then I think you can specify a time period at which the caregivers would remove life support systems—say, after five days or something. Sometimes a patient just needs life support to get them over a hump, and they’ll recover and have more good months of quality life. That happened to two different relatives of mine (one elderly, the other was middle aged). Both came off the vent, went home from the hospital, and had many months of good life to live.

 

btw, I am sorry to hear your mother in law has such dire health problems. She is fortunate to have loved ones to attend to her in her final days. Quite a few people in the hospital don’t have any one who cares so much.

[irafreak]

Good luck. The power of attorney I had for my wife still got questioned everywhere she went. We even signed it in a hospital and the next time I had to take her back it took them 3 hours to finally get the ok to move forward with that paperwork.

 

Without knowing your mother's situation, a guardianship is supposedly the most sure-fire way to make quick decisions...but each state may be different.

[AR Husker Fan]

Be careful about how you handle this. I see it almost daily - someone either downloads a form or copies from an existing Power of Attorney, and ends up with "authority" that doesn't cover what's needed. As irafreak noted, both Power of Attorney and Guardianship laws vary from state-to-state, so what I'm about to say can't be taken as authoratative in your state.

 

Generally, a Power of Attorney is a grant of authority to allow a person to perform business functions for you - handle your money, buy and sell on your behalf, handle land transactions, that sort of things. For medical issues, a "standard" Power of Attorney is useless. Some states have specific Powers of Attorney for Healthcare. Regardless, the key is to include some specifics in the Power-of-Attorney:

 

1. When does it take effect? In other words, under what circumstances does it grant the authority? When a doctor declares that the subject can't make healthcare decisions for themself? When a specific medical condition arises? Immediately upon execution? Don't generalize in this section - spell out precisely when and how it becomes effective.

 

2. By definition, it should be durable. This is kind of crazy to explain, but a "regular" power of attorney was envisioned as a way to authorize an agent for your business dealings - a proxy. Generally, those kind of Powers of Attorney are voided when the person executing it becomes "incompetent". For healthcare, it SHOULD continue after that point - in fact, as noted in number 1, above, that could be the very condition that triggers it. But don't take changes. State explicitly that it is durable and continues even after disability occurs.

 

3. Think about how you want it to work. Is it for a temporary condition? Permanent? Do you want it to function until the person's death? Do you want it to grant you permission to decide whether to implement or discontinue life-sustaining or life-supporting efforts? And if so, define what those terms mean. If you mean that it allow you to decide to deny or remove tube feeding, say so. Same with any other form of life-sustaining or life-supporting efforts - define them and then have the document state that the attorney-in-fact has the authority to make those decisions.

 

4. A DNR is different from life-sustaining or life-supporting efforts. The former is an immediate response to save a life (think CPR or heart stimulation). The latter is for tube feeding, removal of breathing-assistance devices, and the like. Cover both in the document.

 

5. Many states allow a person to be appointed as a Healthcare Proxy, and grant specific rights under that designation. If your state does that, add it, using the language necessary to effectuate it. While it may seem to overlap other provisions discussed above, there are often subtle difference.

 

6. Make sure that the document grants power for the attorney-in-fact to have full and complete access to the patient's medical records, including but not limited to financial medical records. Have it waive any and all HIPAA and Personal Health Information (PHI) rights as to the attorney-in-fact.

 

7. If you can afford it, have an attorney draft the document. In some states, a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare has to be filed to be effective; in others, it doesn't. An attorney will know and will take care of it.

 

8. Don't trust a hospital-based form. Typically, those are drafted to make life easier for the hospital, and not to honor the wishes of the patient of the needs of the attorney-in-fact, and they can be very limited in scope.

 

Hope this helps.

[MLB 51]

Thanks for all the replies. My Mother in law has declined to sign at this time. Also, we haven't told her that she is terminal. I don't think she want's her children put in a situation of deciding her fate. Thanks again for all the help.