eakub Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 Sorry if this isn't an appropriate question... but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about POA laws and such. It doesn't really have anything to do with credit... but finances are involved.I'm asking because my parents have been going through a very tough time lately. You see... my dad was my grandma's POA. She married her 3rd husband just 5 years ago and right after their wedding she made out a will. Whatever property, money, whatever that was left over (since medical bills might need to be paid) after her death is to be split up among her step children (from her 2nd marriage) and my dad (plus my dad had a bond that was to go to him... it was from his grandfather, but it was in both my grandma's and my dad's names). Well... long story short, my grandma had heart surgery and then suffered 10 strokes afterwards. Everyone thought she was going to die... and my grandma had a health directive that said not to keep her alive on life support. Her husband went against her wishes and forced the hospital to keep her alive. She's alive... but she has to have a feeding tube and she's pretty much a vegetable. A doctor wrote a statement saying that he felt she was of sound enough mind to decide whether she wanted to live or die... however, this doctor then wrote a statement about 6 months later that she was not of sound enough mind to make financial decisions (her memory has been disappearing quite rapidly and she doesn't even know who I am anymore). Anyway... some time between the first statement and the second statement, my grandma's husband somehow got POA switched from my dad to him. He has an "X" on a document that he had to physically force my grandma to draw. Since then he has been rapidly depleting her money and resources... my parents have grown very concerned that he is just after her money and wishes to spend every last penny (then divorce her so she will become a ward of the state). My question is... can my dad get POA back? It's quite obvious that my grandma had no clue what was going on when she "signed" that document... plus all of the nurses at the nursing home have noticed that she can be easily influenced (when someone asks her a question, she simply looks at her husband so he can prompt her). She doesn't even know what year it is for crying out loud!Sorry if this is in the wrong area... it can get moved if someone wants it moved. I am just so desperate for some help with this. My parents are talking about taking my grandma's husband to court because he clearly doesn't have respect for what was my grandma's wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 Sorry to hear your family is having to go thru this. I'd be suing the hospital and the doctors for ignoring your grandmother's health directive. In some states these directives hold quite a bit of weight, not so much in others. Did your grandmother have a DNR included in that directive ?This will be a hard one to fight and your parents will need a very good lawyer and probably need to initiate a police investigation into this guy. Perhaps he's done this sort of thing in the past and has left a trail of cons ? Who knows, but it will probably take that kind of investigation to have any hope of stopping him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eakub Posted August 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 LadynRed - Thanks for responding. Um... yes, she did have a DNR included. The people at the hospital told my parents that a DNR isn't worth the paper its written on if the person's spouse does not agree with it and accept it. We live in Nebraska... so I don't know what the laws regarding that are here.Anyway, this is why this doctor wrote the first statement saying that she was of sound enough mind to say whether she wanted to live or die. My parents challenged the hospital with it and the hospital finally gave in. They "pulled the plug" with much objection from my grandma's husband. But then she didn't die that night. She was still critical though following this and the doctors still said she was probably going to die... but then her husband sought out someone else's opinion and somehow my grandma got a feeding tube put in. ::sigh:: This guy really does know how to work things... I'll give him credit for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eakub Posted August 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Bump... Anyone else have any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 Sorry...this is way beyond the ability to advise you'll find on the board here. You need to get an attorney... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eakub Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 My parents have an attorney... I just don't know how "good" he really is. My parents can't really afford to file a lawsuit... they would have to take out a loan to do so. I was just hoping that someone on here would know whether it sounds like my grandma's husband even obtained POA legally. But I guess that could vary too between the different states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eakub Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Sorry to drag this thread out... I don't mean to...I just found out today that there was no "witness" to the signing of this POA. There was only the parties involved in the POA switch and the attorney present. Aren't they supposed to have an unbiased witness there to say that this POA switch was what my grandma's true intentions were? This seriously cannot be legal!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divemedic Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 You have to get her declared incompetant to have signed the POA. The problem here is that you have a Doctor that is saying other wise. This is gonna take a lawyer and possibly a lawsuit. Ever hear of Schiavo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eakub Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 No, I haven't. What is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divemedic Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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