The reason I want the power of attorney is that she has been living with me for a year and her home sits vacant. It is very old and in poor repair so will not get much for it but it is costing so much for upkeep, taxes, insurance, etc. and would not qualify as a rental. If she is incompetent to sign papers what can I do? She is another that refuses to go to a doctor. Selling the home would sure lift a burden of stress off me. Thank you, Loyalty
If your mom never signed a Power of Attorney and now wouldn't understand what she's signing and is incompetent to sign legal documents, you would need to get a conservatorship (or guardianship) of her. This is a legal process that goes through the courts where she is determined to be incompetent and someone is named to manage her affairs on her behalf. The process varies depending on where you live, but unfortunately it's usually costly and time consuming. You can find more information about it here:
You generally need an attorney to help with the process so you may want to go back to the attorney you spoke to or call your local Area Agency on Aging for legal referrals (sometimes they have low-cost legal aid services). If your mom ever completed a trust, you may also want to have an attorney look over it to see if a Power of Attorney was written into it (some estate planning attorneys include Power of Attorney and even Advance Directives into the trust as part of a complete estate plan). Worth a look if she has a trust just in case. Good luck!
When I got POA for my husband his cognitive abilities were very unstable. On good days he was almost his old self and could converse sensibly about what needed to be done to help us deal with this awful disease. On bad days he thought I was trying to steal all his money. I explained this to the lawyer who was going to bring the various papers to the house for him to sign. She said "No problem. If he isn't good when I get there, I'll come back another time." Fortunately he was capable of understanding her explanations on the first visit. There was obviously no fraudulant intent here -- I just wanted to be able to fully care for my husband.
Is Mom resisting the idea of signing papers? If she is willing, or if she is willing when she is having a more lucid moment, I hope you can take the easiest path of the POA.
Good luck!
There are plenty of unscrupulous lawyers that DO assist relatives or other people in "guiding" an elder into re-doing wills, re-doing POA's in favor of the relative leading that effort [and, BTW, in favor of the atty who is helping htem do it, since they almost alwyas set themselves up as Executors!].
It is illegal, but trying to prove it afterwards is almost impossible.
FIRST: a Doctor needs to certify the elder as incompetent to manager their own affairs.
SECOND: family members ought to get a lawyer, I believe, to help write up papers that assign guardianship and POA to family members; if there are none, then a friend, or, a State appointed paid advocate.
START by asking advice of Social Worker.
That person should be able to guide you in the process.
Official papers need at least Notary Public stamp/signed.
They may also need, depending on the paperwork being done, legal help.
See All Answers