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shellbell69 Asked February 2020

Can a POA make end of life decisions if they are also his victim of domestic violence with a restraining order in effect?

Countrymouse Feb 2020
I understand.

Your brother was receiving hospice care. What for?
He was being cared for by his partner at home.
His partner had at some time accused him of domestic violence and had obtained a restraining order. What were the conditions of the order? Did she continue to live with him?
When did your brother give her power of attorney? Was this specifically a health care POA, or was she his health proxy, or what?

Getting to the bumpy part of the road: what decision do you believe this person made for your brother that you would like enquired into? You say there should be a way to "avoid grave mistakes," but what mistakes do you think might have been made?

Do you, on sober reflection, really suspect that your brother's partner would have wished him dead, and used her POA to shorten his life intentionally?

Regarding the settlement your brother was expecting: POA expires on the death of the person for whom it is held, so the partner's POA is now over and gone, and it certainly doesn't give her a claim to his property. But that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't want her to receive his property. Did he leave a will?

Countrymouse Feb 2020
I shouldn't have thought it a good idea. There is a glaring conflict of interest.

So. A man is undergoing a health crisis. There may need to be decisions made about life-sustaining treatment.

The man has given POA - I hope it's the right sort of POA, but we'll come back to that - to (presumably) his partner.

Since the POA was given (presumably), the man has subjected his partner to domestic violence. The partner has sought and been given a restraining order. But the partner still has POA, this has not been altered.

Does the man want his partner to continue to act for him, or is the man not able to say?

Who is responsible for the man's healthcare? Is he at home, with a hospice service; or in a hospital; or in a facility?

Is the POA being asked to consent to treatment or to the withdrawal of treatment by doctors or hospice providers?

If I had POA in these circumstances, I think I would resign it immediately and allow the health care providers to seek emergency guardianship instead.
shellbell69 Feb 2020
my brother was at home hospice and was getting worse with his so called partner and the family wasn't notified until his last days and he was unable to speak then he was admitted to hospice but im not sure what his request were or treatment because the poa withheld that info from the family an now hes gone I was wondering if there was a procedure or protocol that hospice was to do to be aware that his poa was also his victom and not the one who should be making those decisions he also had a settlement check coming he was at a disadvantage medically and possibly coerced in making the victom his poa and clearly wasn't in the right frame of mind as was being told no body cared for him im pretty sure the poa was responsible for his death as hospice should have some kind of procedure to avoid those grave mistakes ,don't they?

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