The best time for getting an emergency power of attorney is usually before the emergency actually happens. And oftentimes it is the only time you can get one.
I was once contacted by a woman whose father was in pretty bad physical condition and had been for quite some time. She had been doing her best to take care of his medical needs as well as his finances. I could tell she really cared about her father and was trying to do the right things for him.
Well her father’s health had deteriorated drastically by the time she contacted me, and he had been hospitalized. At that time she was trying desperately to take care of paying his bills for him, but she didn’t have power of attorney to access his bank account. And his health was so bad by then that the doctors didn’t think he had legal capacity anymore in order to legally sign documents. In other words he was so sick that he could not legally make decisions for himself. So by that point she could not get a power of attorney for him.
VERY IMPORTANT: The power of attorney document must be signed by the person BEFORE the person loses legal mental capacity to sign legal documents.
Her only option was to try to get guardianship of her father. Guardianship is what happens when a court decides that someone is legally incapacitated. When that happens the court appoints someone else to take over the sick person’s finances and decisions on personal care. This includes banking, paying bills, etc. as well as making medical and other personal decisions for the person who is incapacitated.
However, getting guardianship over someone is a long, difficult, and expensive legal process. The courts rightfully make it this way, because it’s a very big deal to take away someone’s rights to make decisions for themselves and give those rights to someone else. But of course all this extra time, work, and money causes yet more stress for the family members trying to take care of their sick loved one.
So getting a power of attorney can end up being just as important as getting a will. Please don’t let your family down. Getting an emergency power of attorney doesn’t cost much money at all, and it could help both you and your family tremendously.
