Incompetence

H1235

I have a DPOA for my mom. It is not spring form so I am able to do what needs to be done now. The question is should I ask the doctor for something that states she is incompetent? What would be the benefit of having this? Would AL need this? Could it be used in a hospital situation if she refuses treatment? Is it something I should have on hand?

terei

Your DPOA should be sufficient. I handled my mother’s affairs for years including selling her home. Your document should state whether it is valid for financial, medical etc. I never had to have anything else.

fmb

I had to obtain a "Physician Certification of Incapacity" for one investment firm (Vanguard) in order for them to accept DH's DPOA (durable, not springing). Having said that, I am not certain that their call center (located in a foreign country) understood the situation or pointed me in the right direction. In the end, I did obtain the authority I needed to deal with his accounts.

Jackie_K

@Chug - I am working through this now myself. I haven't needed to do anything with the medical POA yet, but I am taking over her finances and have needed the financial POA document to make that process go smoother. I did not need any medical declaration from her doctor to make the financial POA become "active" with her accounts.

You will need to make sure the FPOA document is on file with all of their accounts. My mom forgot most of her passwords, and while I was able to recover some on her laptop so I could take over her payments, some required a phone call, and they wouldn't talk to me without her being on the phone. Now that I have the POA on file with them, they don't need to have her permission to speak to me.

I am getting the POA on file with her bank, life insurance, utilities, etc.

Some places will need extra paperwork and some have taken a couple of weeks to go through, so don't wait until there is an emergency to get it on file with financial institutions.

I sent the healthcare POA documentation to my mom's doctor's office so they have it on file for when that is needed.

Good luck.