The lawyer went over the document, summarizing each paragraph and having my husband follow along. At the end she asked, "Do you know what this means?" and he said "that if I can't make my own decisions, Jeanne can make them for me." That was all he had to comprehend.
Depending on what symptoms are "advanced" the person with dementia may or may not be able to execute a POA.
Is there anyone at all who might have reason to question the POA later? If a brother may materialize and claim you took advantage of this person as his POA, guardianship might be less hassle down the road. The lawyer can advise you.
The person granting another power of attorney has to have legal capacity to execute a power of attorney. While there is a chance on the day its executed, the person is cognizant of their choice to execute the document, it could be challenged later that overall, there was not capacity to execute the document.
If the person has advanced dementia, it may be too late to execute a POA, and as Ahmijoy noted, you may need to pursue a legal guardianship and/or conservatorship to handle financial and health-related decisions.
I seem to remember that when I got POA, my mom had to sign. She was showing signs of dementia, but was cognizant enough to understand what she was signing. I think in your case you may want to pursue guardianship.
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Depending on what symptoms are "advanced" the person with dementia may or may not be able to execute a POA.
Is there anyone at all who might have reason to question the POA later? If a brother may materialize and claim you took advantage of this person as his POA, guardianship might be less hassle down the road. The lawyer can advise you.
If the person has advanced dementia, it may be too late to execute a POA, and as Ahmijoy noted, you may need to pursue a legal guardianship and/or conservatorship to handle financial and health-related decisions.
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