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Read moreCan I Take My Mother Out of a Nursing Home Over the Objections of Her Agent Under a POA?
- June 30th, 2017
Q
My eldest brother, who is my mom's agent under a power of attorney, has put my mom in a nursing home. She does not want to be there -- she wants to live with me. Can I take her out of the nursing home?
A
Yes, at least in theory. As a practical matter, the question has to do with your mother’s competency. By granting a power of attorney to your brother, your mother did not give away her rights. Furthermore, if it’s a financial and legal power of attorney, rather than one for health care, the power of attorney has nothing to do with decisions about where to live. Of course, your brother still holds the purse strings and has a lot of power over other decisions. Further, each of you acting in separate directions can be very disruptive. While your brother has no legal power over your mother, it would probably be better to find another approach other than acting unilaterally. We often recommend hiring a geriatric care manager who can help with assessing your mother’s capacity, determining where it’s safe for her to live, and mediating among family members.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Ashburn, VA
Jeffrey Hammond
Hammond and Associates, LLC, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate
Bethesda, MD
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Samantha Fredieu
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Attorney Samantha Simmons Fredieu is an associate at Hale Ball. Ms. Fredieu graduated magna cum laude from Vermont Law School where she was the symposium editor on the Vermont Law Review, a production editor on the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, and a member of the Moot Court Advisory Board. She has clerked for...
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John Laster
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John Laster is a lawyer licensed to practice in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He limits his practice to wealth transfer planning, trusts, wills, powers of attorney, health care decision-making issues, estate administration and related tax, elder law and disability concerns. Listed in The Best Lawyers...
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Meet Jeffrey Hammond
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Jeffrey Hammond
Hammond and Associates, LLC, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate
For Jeffrey Hammond, the practice of Elder Law is personal. Jeff’s many years of experience in law and in business did not prepare him for the crisis he faced in 2005 and 2006 when his father suffered a stroke and both of his parents suffered from dementia and other medical problems. At that time, Jeff began an i...
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