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?
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.
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.
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.
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.