My brother resides 100 miles away, I am 1/4 mile away. I am primary care taker. How do I change an enacted POA to become #1?
I took my mother to the ER and was physically there with her, but had to wait for my brother to make decisions with a voicemail, and a return phone call back through out the night.
When I went away, I informed the NH that my sister, who was back-up POA, could be called if I couldn't be reached & never had any problem
Want to save yourself all this worry and wondering: Contact:
HIRE AN ATTORNEY. I recommend contacting:
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
https://www.naela.org/findlawyer
naela@naela.org
NAELA Council of Advanced Practitioners
1577 Spring Hill Rd., Suite 310
Vienna, VA 22182
703-942-5711
naela@naela.org
Personal recommendation:
M. Carl Glatstein
Glatstein & O'Brien LLP
This is how resigning POA is commonly done (notarized letter to various parties), however the only issue that isn't discussed (others did point it out) is that if one has resigned the medical POA, what will happen if the alternate can't or won't perform the POA duties, for whatever reason (incapacitated, develops dementia herself, death) and principal can no longer appoint anyone? The only solution is going for guardianship, which isn't easy, isn't cheap and takes time.
I like the suggestions some people made, where the notification specifies one would be unable to be POA during a certain time frame, but have no idea if this is even legally possible. It would be nice if someone knows whether one can "temporarily" give up their POA duties. The only other question this begs is why would they not defer to #2 if they could not get an answer from #1? He could be on travel out of the country, incapacitated himself, meanwhile mom gets zero care because they can't contact #1??? One would think sure, make concerted effort to make contact, but the patient is the important one here and they should only give it some much time before deferring to #2.
In our case, two of us are named as POA (medical and financial), but there is no specification about who is #1 or 2. Even though one brother isn't listed, we consulted on various issues before proceeding. For the most part, all non-care duties fall on my plate (financials, medical, calls from facility, payments, procuring meds and incidentals, etc.)
If two people need to be named (there should be a second, just in case), it might be best to be listed as either/or rather than #1 or 2 (and certainly NOT one AND two), especially for those who get along and would work together rather than bicker, blame, and lambaste each other!) We have no idea where the future might find us (as in this case, #2 was further away when documented, but now is the "go-to".)