What if Mom or Dad Refuses to Go To The Nursing Home? A Guardianship Might Be Necessary.

As a part of our Pennsylvania (PA) Estate Planning Package we will prepare both a general financial power of attorney (FPOA) and a medical power of attorney (MPOA) for a client to sign.  The two separate power of attorney documents are very important, but used for very different purposes.  This article outlines the Medical power of attorney issues as they relate to admitting a loved one to a nursing home.  Further, the article reviews the options available to someone who does not have a medical power of attorney either because one was never signed or because it was revoked.

Medical Power Of Attorney

The  medical power of attorney (MPOA) contains very broad medical powers ranging from selecting doctors and authorizing surgery in an accident situation to making final decisions when someone is in a hospital and not expected to recover.  The Medical Agent is also given the authority Agent to select and sign entrance documents for a nursing home.   However, the MPOA can be revoked so long as the person who originally created it is mentally and physically able to do so.  The process for revoking a MPOA is simple and requires no Court proceedings.  One only needs to send a letter to the Agent documenting his or her wish to revoke the MPOA.  As a result, the person granting the MPOA can refuse to go to or stay in a nursing home regardless of the actions of their named Agent if they still maintain their mental and physical capabilities.

Guardianship

If you believe your parent or loved one needs nursing home care, but is refusing it, you might have an alternative.  If your parent or loved one has lost mental capacity, you can seek guardianship over their person and estate.

The guardianship should be a last resort action as it can be more time consuming, expensive and restrictive than a FPOA and MPOA combination.  However, where your parent or loved one  cannot sign a power of attorney or has wrongly revoked one, the guardianship process might be a necessity and will serve an important purpose.  The guardianship will require a Court determination on the parent’s or loved one’s mental capacity.

The Court appointed guardianship cannot be easily revoked and will allow you to make more authoritative decisions on nursing care.  The guardianship process serves to provide Court backing for all necessary decisions.  It also allows the nursing home and other medical professionals to feel comfortable that the guardian is authorized to make decisions and that their position will not be revoked or undermined.

Read this article for a further review of the Guardianship process in Pennsylvania and some tips for avoiding or defeating a Guardianship contest.

As noted, we will try every other option before seeking guardianship.   Despite this, we know it is an important legal option.   If you need assistance with a guardianship process or other Elder Law or Estate Planning issue please contact Doug Kaune at 610 933 8069 or dkaune@utbf.com.