FranticGirl Asked March 2013
As POA, if I have to sign mom into hospital, will I be legally responsible for her bill?
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Mom with dementia can sign her name presently. However, as her disease progresses, this may not remain true. I have POA for both legal and healthcare purposes. Would this make me legally responsible for her bill if she was unable to sign herself into the hospital in the event she had to be admitted?
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Or... you could get this accurate info & proof from your Probate Court directly without cost.
Please don't rely on 'here says ' for this very important information.
Best wishes.
I live in MD.
If they are on hospice, you can just call the funeral home as it is already established they are terminal so the expectation is they will die at home. There are NO crime scene issues.
We had Easter weekend lunch with friends, who gave us their Officer Opie story. Our friend, Jim, has a ranch with on-site caretaker. Over a dz sections type of ranch. Jim has his bedroom at the ranch house but lives in the city - he's the type of guy who leaves stuff about so in his room the bed is left just as if he was just there (messy, bed unmade, toothbrush on sink edge). Jim may go over whenever. The caretaker died in another bathroom - aneurism. An adjoining ranch owner went over and found him because he didn't show up for a scheduled appointment. Well the first officer on the scene, who was Officer Opie, called it a crime scene. House taped off, photos taken, all sorts of "evidence" bagged and just whatever else done that they could use items paid for by Homeland Security grants was done. The police were on the search for the man who left the messy bed.....Then the cause of death could not be determined till the body was shipped to a police department with a full coroner's office because of the whole crime scene stuff. Meanwhile caretakers family unable to bury him and then all sorts of costs with transferring body; house & ranch unable to be used till crime scene issue dealt with. But what was found out was that because of the whole domestic terrorism concerns, many smaller police departments have gotten all this equipment. If your within a certain radius of military bases, ports or other high value targets, then your little police department could get $$ for stuff for crime scenes. (The ranch is within the 300 mile radius of the Pantex plant - which means 4 states). The grant stuff just sits there as most police calls are the usual domestic, stealing, drug dealing, etc. But a dead body, whoo-who, we got us an opportunity to break out the CSI kit and gives the other departments (fire, EMS) and the courts something to do and bill for.
Re credit cards. In CA the creditors can only go after the estate for the debt. They can NOT go after the surviving spouse unless that spouse was named on (or used) the credit card. Had this when my Grandfather died. Fortunately we knew the law, so they weren't able to get any $ from my Grandmother.
Jeremy Smith, not personally, but
solely as Power of Attorney for Joanna Smith
It's my understanding that there's a big difference in signing personally and as power of attorney and that distinction is made abundantly clear, it should hopefully alleviate any questions. And also, get copies of everything that you sign and keep them in a file regarding your loved one.
Again, I'm no expert, but have seen these before and hope this helps someone.
We have these documents such as P.O.A. and we don't know how to use them. We are told to get them, and we do, but I see that most of us do this step... without any instruction or a clear explanation of how, where, why, when.
This question is a subject that is attached to many other questions. Forgive me for being factitious while I make a point.
All of us here posting can obviously read, write, ask questions.... correct???
The reason I made that obvious point is that we all need to sign papers at some point whether it be for yourself or for someone else, a child, a parent etc.
When you had to have your parents sign your report card, you knew that your grades were stated on your performance during a certain period of time, by your teacher. Your teacher wanted to know that Mom and Dad saw it and the signature was proof. You did not hand your parents the report card without knowing the grades your teacher gave you.... right???? You also knew if you went back to school on Monday, without the signatures it was a BIG NONO.
So you had to do the next step regardless of the outcome... praise or punishment. Either way, I bet none of you handed that report card to your parents without reading it first.
Are you getting my point here.....
No matter what you sign, you should read it first. Your P.O.A. papers have the words that describe your duties or actions that you can preform on the behalf of the person who granted you as Attorney in Fact.
A hospital bill may be worded so that you are responsible for all debts, for another party. If you sign a form making yourself responsible you will be.
You may sign as Agent if you have P.O.A. , but make sure of what your signing. Read what you are signing, Read your papers, and if you don't have to sign don't.
At one point my Mother needed to agree to something at a hospital to be moved into a certain section and I was not sure about who would be responsible for the bill or if she had medicare coverage. I was told I needed/had to sign for her and that was a threatening thought/feeling. I have to/need to ?????
RED FLAG!!!!!!
I've found the best thing to know about credit cards is to stay as far away from them as possible! Not but trouble in the long run if one is not truly careful. Even responsible people get burned when desperate enough to overuse them. Unfortunately, there are a lot more desperate people today due to economy. And yes credit card companies have become much more aggressive trying to reclaim losses.
I had one friend tell me that if a company is giving you grief you might as well cancel your landline & change cell phone #. I had one that could not get electronic billing right--they are the worst and they have gobbled up a lot of others so they are huge.
Luckily, we were able to pay it off & just get rid of it. They were accessing a late fee of $35 onto a bill totally $70. By the time I was able to pay it off & cancel it, I had to pay $135 just because they could not process my payments correctly. That's ridiculous to have to pay an extra $100. My husband says they try to get you to go paperless so they can do just that.
I'm glad to know you know about the laws. I have not have any problems until that one company. But now, I am dumping plastic left & right--b/c they are all owned by that problem company.
bookworm is right about different states going after one's children to get paid. Check the law for your state and make sure all is okay. leeplus3 is also correct - you should have a 2 separate POA’s one for as Admin for to handle your parent(s) finances.
Anyone that does not have Will & Estate/POA etc. will find themselves dealing with a lot of issues. Make sure you have one for yourself. I've talked to a lot of people who think they have nothing to worry about and then find themselves up against the wall as well as their family members.
Elders can be easily fleeced. no reputable bank should issue a credit card to a person who works part-time only (for over 5 years prior to her permanent disability) and expect to get paid.
To me, that is just blatant stupidity. They can count it as a loss on the tax return, but I think they should not be able to--they should have been overseeing the acct & realized minimum payments being paid long-term. I think they got what they deserved--nothing.
My mom died recently, on the 19th. Older sis from off-island rode on the ambulance with mom (died in her sleep at home.) As she filled the registered papers, she had asked the lady if she would end up paying for mom's expenses (autopsy, use of ER room, etc...) The lady lowered her voice and said not to sign the last one.
As for myself, because I became the main caregiver for both of my 2 bedridden parents 2yrs ago, I knew that I would be the one taking them to the hospital. I Googled the information. I found that the best option is NOT to sign it. The next option is writing, "so-and-so, as representative of..." then my parent's name. I'm not sure if this will apply since I signed the last dotted line!
Also, last year the HLN news reported that some states have passed a law that the hospital (other medical institutions) can go after the children to pay for their parent's medical bills. So, best to check if your state has passed this law.