When my Mom moved in with us, she added my name to her checking account (my name is on the bank statements along with hers) for emergency purposes, and I also pay her bills when she is unable to (in the hospital or whatever). The bank has my signature on file, and I am allowed to write checks, etc. Should I also have a financial power of attorney?? My brother & sister are pretty much out of the picture (other than an occasional ::cough:: phone call) and I am her primary caregiver - they have no claim to anything Mom has left (possessions at this point) & know that so I'm not worried about that. I was just wondering if there was any other reason for a POA beyond family stuff?
Even if you don't currently need it, now is the time to get a durable POA in place. I pray that dementia, etc. never enter your mothers life, but if it does & you wait until she can not understand & agree to the conditions of a POA then things get real complicated & expensive. A hearing will have to be held & she will have to be declared legally incompetent, etc. So, it is much simpler & less expensive to get the POA now.
MIL become non-communicative during this time (we didn't realize that the SNF was giving her extra Valium --LSS-- she ended up in ER totally unresponsive) the ER doctor remedied that and she came around enough to sign the cremation order.
The cremation issue would have been sticky to get all the siblings on board with. While some of the siblings would have wanted the elaborate funeral with the embalmed body being shipped from Texas to Mississippi with all the trimmings- they didn't have enough money for that sort of thing and the siblings that would have wanted it would not have paid for it.
I don't know what your state requires, but maybe you should check with the funeral home where you are located.