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Health Care Agent

Today's Q&A on ElderCareMatters.com is about decision making and Powers of Attorney

Question:  If you have the Power of Attorney for a person what sort of paperwork do you need to keep, and are you authorized to make decisions re: the care of that person in an assisted living facility or nursing home if the person is still in his/her right mind?

Answer:  Once the durable Power of Attorney for health care or finance is in place, the designated person who holds the Power of Attorney should keep as much documentation about the person as possible, including a list of their medications, physician's report including diagnosis, allergies, etc., advanced healthcare directive, POLST (physician's orders for life sustaining treatment), DNR (do not resuscitate) , family history, medical history, copy of the Will, bank information, mortuary information, etc. The Power of Attorney is authorized to make decisions re: the care of that person in an assisted living facility or nursing home even if the person is still in his/her right mind.

My answer to your question is based on my many years of being a long term care Administrator.  If you need more specific information about these legal documents, I would suggest you contact an Elder Care Attorney in California, which can be found on ElderCareMatters.com.

Daniela Berindei, Administrator
Elite Elder Care
El Dorado Hills, California
916-267-1346
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, California chapter

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: "I am an Elder Care Professional with 15 years experience in helping families with their elder care matters. Should I be listed on ElderCareMatters.com?"

Answer:  If you are a professional who helps families plan for or deal with ANY of their elder care matters, then you owe it to yourself to be listed on America's #1 online source for "Elder Care Experts"….

ElderCareMatters.com

ElderCareMatters.com is where you will find more than 2,000 competent, caring elder care experts located across America, including:

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So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional who helps families with ANY of their elder care matters, then request today an Application for Membership in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance and get listed on ElderCareMatters.com - America's #1 source for "Elder Care Experts" plus information and answers about a wide range of elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters, LLC
ElderCareMatters.com

 

 

 

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: “For some reason, my aging parents are stonewalled about signing a healthcare power of attorney. They seem to think that one of them will always be available to take care of the other. As they age, it is becoming more and more apparent that this issue needs to be discussed, but they refuse any attempt on any family member's part to do this. I believe they view it as a means for someone to take control, thus losing their independence. What would you suggest?”

Answer:  In Massachusetts and probably other states, if  married couples do not have  a health care proxy (HCP) in place and one of them needs hospital care the other will have no rights with respect to his or her spouse's health care needs.
 
In circumstances where the hospitalized spouse loses competency to decide an emergency, guardianship will be required. The cost will then become large because court action will be required. If these people are hesitant they can name each other as health care agent followed by a trusted child as an alternate. Also they should think about a durable financial power of attorney  because a health care proxy only addresses health issues, and if one of them becomes incompetent the other can take over with the financials. Without that document financial institutions would require a Conservatorship– again an expensive proposition. Every person needs to have these 2 documents in place. The fiscal and emotional costs to the family would be far greater than the actual legal costs to retain an attorney to draft them.

Susana Lannik, Attorney at Law
Law Office of Susana Lannik, LLC
Newton, Massachusetts  02458
617-658-2980
www.LannikLaw.com
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Massachusetts chapter