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The gf sold his house and had him move in with her for a few years until she had a medical emergency. I knew he was bad mentally when the house was sold but wanted to let them stay together so I didn’t push the issue since he was happy and cared for. When I asked to get a look at his finances she became defensive. My dad was not of sound mind signing the POA and now I’m trying to get him released to my care. My sister was all for it until her ego was bruised, but now says she won’t allow it. We are now estranged and I don’t know how to proceed to get him home with us. I am blessed to be set up fairly well to care for him in a secure environment with support. I am not being compensated but think I can improve his quality of life. What would you do?

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Your Dads will means nothing. In my State our Wills are witnessed and notarized in the Lawyers office. You do not assign a POA in a Will. A Will is after death and an Executor takes over. A POA is a separate agreement and ends with death. I would like to know how a POA was obtained. I know that you can download them from the internet but I think having a lawyer involved makes it more legal. Moms was witnessed and notarized.

Who has POA, the GF? Actually, if she is doing the caring for him, she should have it. Being his daughter does not give you the right to look at Dads finances. If a Will has been drawn up recently, I may check into that. If he was declared incompetent to make informed decisions he should not be assinging POAs or making out Wills. I would consult with a lawyer to see if you have the right to ask for an accting of Dads money. And ask about legality of the Will and POA.
When Dad passes, you can always contest the accting of the Will.
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It doesn’t matter what your sister will or won’t allow unless she is his guardian or has POA. Does anyone have legal POA for him? That’s not clear. There’s a medical POA and another POA, which is called (often) a durable POA. Two separate things, and a person needs both. Where I live, the MPOA can be signed either of two ways, in front of a notary OR in front of two witnesses. Either is legal. What is the law where you live? As to taking your father home and providing a better life for him, don’t be too sure of that. You have no idea what that entails or how difficult that will be. Spend today reading others’ comments on here and then multiply their misery by at least 10. That will be you if you take him into your home. If you possibly can, place him where professionals can care for him. Caregiving is often thankless, always exhausting and financially draining.
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Check with state probate to see if 2 witnesses are required. If not so then see a lawyer. With probate, a newspaper item needs to be done for individuals to file claims. State of mind can be contested, however legal costs eat into the eventual distributions.
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JoAnn29 Sep 2022
I did not have to do this because my Mom was debt free. I made sure of that when she went on Medicaid. The problems with posting something like this, you have people coming out of the woodwork saying the deceased owes them for some service which they don't. Just causes a headache.
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At the time he reassigned the PoA did your father have a medical diagnsos of cognitive impairment? If not, I don't think you have much to go on.

Take what evidence you have and have a consult with a certified elder law attorney who can give you proper guidance for your father's home state.
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All you can do is go for guardianship, I'd think. You'll need an attorney for that, and it's quite expensive. It'd be better to try to fix your relationship with your sister first, if possible.

An unsigned will isn't worth the paper it's written on. Anyone can change their will at anytime, so the fact that he wanted you to have POA 10 years ago means nothing.
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Krenzelo, please note in a Will, there an Executor assigned that takes care of the estate after the person has passed. A Power of Attorney is a totally separate document.

I see from your profile that your Dad has Alzheimer's/Dementia, thus he shouldn't be signing any type of legal document. I am surprised that the Notary [hopefully there was one] didn't refuse to notarize the document. Now if your Dad was signing his Will, State usually require a certain number of Witnesses plus a Notary. I would think said Witnesses would have refused to sign.

Sounds like it is time for your to talk to an Elder Law Attorney about this situation, quickly.
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