Does assisted living have the right to ask a dementia patient to sign a form when they have a caregiver with POA?

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Does assisted living have the right to ask a dementia patient to sign a form when they have a caregiver with POA?

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I've had POA for my mother for 7 years. I handle all of her affairs. She is in the early stages of dementia with short term memory loss only and last Fall I had to put her in a locked down Asst Living facility because she was literally running away from home. She is in excellent health and only requires medication management. I manage her healthcare and she still sees her own Drs. The facility recently asked her to sign a form authorizing them to provide care for her. I was very upset and thought they should've sent the form to me for review and signature. Is it reasonable for an AL facility to ask a dementia patient who has a legal advocate to sign anything? My mother said that she was forced to sign the form. I'm thinking of seeing an Elder Care Atty. Not the first thing they've done that ticked me off. Thanks in advance for feedback.

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Thank you for your response. I was appalled when the CFO told me that a lot of their residents sign their own paperwork. Most of the people in the section of the facility where my mother is located can't even utter a comprehensive word. She is probably in the best shape of anyone else and after she signed the form she panicked and called me. I think she was having an anxiety attack. I offered to go o the facility but she said she was OK. I was on the phone with her for over an hour calming her down. I gave the facility a copy of my POA when I put my mother in the facility. There was no excuse for what the CFO did. I plan on speaking with an elder care attorney about what my rights are where the facility is concerned and maybe having them writer them a letter. They also quit giving my mother one of her prescriptions because they said it was giving her diarrhea without my or her Doctor's permission. Th Rx was to keep her ammonia levels down because high ammonia levels cause dementia. She was on it months before she went into the facility and did not have diarrhea. There was probably another cause for it but they didn't even bother telling me. My mother mentioned it in the Doctor's office and I was quite upset about that too. That happened the first month or so she was there. I think they overstep their boundaries and want to make sure it doesn't happen again. I would like to move her but I can't afford to do that right now. Thanks again.

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I work for a SNF and you are right that the form should have been sent to you as a
person with even the mild dementia cannot sign their own paperwork nor can they be held responible. Do they have a copy of the POA and does the POA cover medical. Talk with the Director of Nursing for the facility and if you are still not happy call the local ombudsman. As the POA you can revoke and papers she has signed. Good luck to you.

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Merrylou, We have a Pharmacuial (not sure if I spelled that one right) anyway, a tech comes to our facility and looks at all the charts and then he will recommend sometimes changing the meds and sometimes deleting it all together. So I would question this also as you stated.Ammonia levels also can be an effect of liver problems so I really think you are on the right track. I would contact the local state
ombusman for the area, believe it or not they really do come out and check out concerns and we really listen to them as they will report to the state if need to, reports to the state can cost the facility big money, so they really listen.

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In IN, the AL facility does have the right!. You said beginning stages of Dementia and depending on what type of POA you have, it varies. I would call an attorney. I got my information from an attorney. I was told that most POA, take them for granted and really the POA gives them no authority over that person. The POA, is more for transferring money, making payments, taking care of everyday financial obligations.
THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE CHANGED, IS IF YOU HAVE CUSTODY.....OR IF YOUR MOTHER IS CONSIDERED INCAPACITATED!
That is what I was told by an atty in IN, who is now a Federal Judge. To be on the safe side....I would call an attorney. Good luck, God Bless!

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My Dad's Trustee took him to sign legal papers (changing his Will to a Trust) at age 92 (he was declared incompetent at age 93). The papers were and remain legal.
A lawyer is supposedly required to ask an elderly person several persons in order to access his understanding as to what he is signing. If that person answers those
questions appropriately, he can then sign anything put in front of him LEGALLY.
Believe me, his signature can't be changed.......yet. I plan to contest that particular signing because it turned everything over to the Trustee when Dad was declared incompetent the next year. Dad had a stroke in '09 and between then and sometime else, the doctor wrote he had Multi-infarct Dementia...I'm hoping that diagnosis will hold up in Court when I contest the Trust. I have gotten rid of the Trustee (he resigned) and Dad now has a Professional Trustee and Guardian but the Trust remains as it was until I can go to Court.

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THAT IS CrAzY! My dads atty required letters from his Family Care Dr. And his neurologist before she would even change the POA. There are some atty's out there that are rats, and I am so sorry that happened. It is not suppose to. What the attorney told us is that in order for someone to get custody or guardianship....it must go through the courts. This is in IN. I wish you well, it sounds like you have record of where your father was really taken advantage of. ={

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To kpas6185- I have full POA and that covers more than one area. I have medical POA. I also have a statement my mother signed for the VA assigning me power to manage her benefit because she is incompetent. In addition, I am paying for part of her care and managing her healthcare so I think that should give me some leeway. I've talked to Mom about the form she signed 4 or 5 times and she also read it. She still doesn't know what she signed. The beginning stages of dementia include loss of comprehensive skills. Of course an attorney would tell you you need guardianship because that is very expensive and puts money in his pocket but I've been told by many including an ombusman that I don't really need that with a medical diagnosis of dementia.

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There are MANY TYPES of POA's. Medical would suffice. If you have a standard POA, I never said MEDICAL, it is a different story. I said your typical financial POA.

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This attorney has nothing to gain, he is employed as a Federal Judge. If nobody has custody or guardianship, he will become a ward of the state! So, it is much better for the patient to have this done before .....not after they become incompetent.

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The ombudsman I talked to works for legal aid and he specifically said I did not need guardianship. There is no reason form my mother to need a guardian or become a ward of the state because I have been taking care of her for 7 years with no problems and helping her financially. She is not unhappy with me but she is upset about being forced by the Asst Living facility into signing a form she didn't understand. She asked me 7 years ago to help her and that's when she gave me full POA to take care of all of her affairs. I have been told that it's difficult to prove even an incompetent person incompetent. My mother has cognitive problems but she's not really incompetent. I'm sending the facility a letter as the ombudsman recommended. Hopefully, this will solve the problem. If it doesn't, I will probably end up moving my mother somewhere else with an understanding up front of how things will work.

Does assisted living have the right to ask a dementia patient to sign a form when they have a caregiver with POA?

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