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My husband was named Power of Attorney over his parents in the event of his fathers death. His mother is still alive, however she needs to be deemed incompetent, she has been in a psych facility for almost 2 weeks and is not getting better. My question is, is having 2 signatures of Dr's deeming his mother incompetent enough for him to have full access over her financial affairs and bank transactions? He needs to be able to pay her bills, get taxes done, and possibly pay for her care, should she not get any better.
Let me also add his sister is the power of attorney over medical decisions. She has been told she has to go to court, hire an attorney, and have 2 signatures from her Dr's stating her mother is incompetent. Does she actually need a lawyer? How long can this process take?
As a family we are all on the same page. We also all have documentation - in the form of texts, voicemails, recordings. - from her immediate family, as well as businesses that have called and police visits.
Any advice is helpful?

"She has been told she has to go to court, hire an attorney, and have 2 signatures from her Dr's stating her mother is incompetent. "

Who told her this? Is his Mom telling this to your SIL? A social worker? Is it because your MIL doesn't have an actual diagnosis yet?

I'm in MN and I had to produce a letter on my Mom's clinic's letterhead signed by her doctor that she had impairment enough to require the intervention of her PoA. I had to tell the doctor what I specifically needed, and she provided it and I printed it out.

I would contact whatever doctor is actually ordering her to stay in the psych ward and tell them you need to activate your F & M PoAs so that you can begin managing her affairs and tell him/her exactly what you need per the PoA doc itself and that if you don't get it you will then need to go through an attorney.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Your POA should state exactly what if anything is required for it to come into effect.
There are 2 different financial POA's. One is durable and effective the day it is signed and the other is springing and requires 2 doctors notes of incompetency before it can be activated.
If you read yours closely you will see what type yours is.
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Read the POA for Mom. If financial is immediate, no problem there. My Moms Medical reads that her family doctor could deem her incompetent and the Medical would be invoked. I have heard where someone is in the hospital and a doctor treating them can invoke Medical. Really need to see how both POAs read.

Just looked it up for my State NJ. Seems all financial POAs are immediate unless otherwise stated. NJ does not require the courts to invoke a Medical POA. So you need to see what the law is in your State.
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swmckeown76 Mar 10, 2025
I never had to go to court in Ohio to use the financial POA or medical POA for my late husband. I was primary POA on both and one of his sisters was secondary on one and another of his sisters on the other, He was still at home (but going to adult day care) the day I had the closing for the condo we moved into, but close to needing long-term care. I used the financial POA to sign for him at the closing. Our house hadn't sold yet, but we could put such a large down payment on the condo that the mortgage payment was reasonable, Once the house sold, he was in long-term care. I used again the used the financial POA to sign for him once the house sold since it was in both of our names. Ohio was a dower state at the time (don't know if it still is), so the condo's deed had to be in both of our names. Once he died, our attorney filed a form at the courthouse to remove his name from the deed, alonf with a copy of his death certificate.
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There are two parents here. I would, yes, suggest an attorney to help your brother get this all set up. He needs to fully understand how to get his POA set up, how to keep records of every penny into and out of all accounts, how to get the POA enacted (will be done according to the stipulations of the document).

Just getting this sprung on you suddenly in this manner means you are in all likelihood unaware of the duties and Fiduciary obligations. It's important to start right.
Good luck.

Begin by reading POA document, and looking up the rights and obligations of a POA for your state online. This is going to help you formulate the right questions.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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I was my dad’s POA for financial and healthcare and made all kinds of decisions and handled finances without ever once showing the POA document to a single person. I was honestly amazed. In your situation, read the POA document carefully to see what is required to enact it, get legal advice if needed, but usually the document itself states what it takes to start decision making and accessing what you need
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Reply to Daughterof1930
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