Legal Question in Health Care Law in Virginia
My question is regarding durable power of attorney... My mother is in advanced stages of Alzheimer's and my father has Durable Power of Attorney for her. However, Dad is not making decisions that are in the best interest of my mother's heathcare. Given this, what can we (her children) do to revoke his power of attorney?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The person holding the power of attorney has a "fiduciary duty" to the "principal." So your father must use the power of attorney for the best interest of the "principal" (your mother), or at least as she wants.
However, the question of what is best for her is a very subjective question. Anyone like a court thinking about this would consider that no one knows your mother and what she wanted as well as her husband. So you would have a difficult time convincing someone that your father's actions are not in her best interest.
But if you can show that there are concrete, specific non-subjective actions that he is taking or failing to take that is MEDICALLY wrong (not subjective) then you could apply in court to have a guardian appointed.
You cannot really have the power of attorney revoked.
But you can have a court appoint a guardian to take over her medical care.
Normally the court woudl appoint the husband as the guardian. So you would have to be prepared to show why someone else should be guardian, and not her husband.
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