Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin

My dad is currently in a rehab facility with no chance of returning to his home. Four years ago he named his estranged adopted daughter to be his POA. He recently told me that he wants me to be his POA. I was trying to get it updated when she came into the picture and found out he was sick. She talked him into the POA once again (he told me) than after I talked to him he said he wanted me to be his POA. His decision ultimately was that she will be his medical POA based on the fact that she is an RN and he feels he owes her something because he has missed out on her life. I never met this lady and am concerned that she is after more than what is best interest is per conversations with her. I asked that he sign a new medical POA for her but with restrictions and she got very upset refuses to look at it. She said that she has no financial gain intentions but will not sign the new POA with restrictions. she recently asked to see his bank statements. she has a way of manipulating him into anything and I am really worried for him. She is talking about selling his estate and moving him far away from me. I want my dad to sign a new durable POA allowing me to hold the position with the restriction that she will make medical decisions but nothing beyond that. He has cried to me about what he should do because he is starting to see that she may not have his best interest. If i have him sign this new durable POA can she get him to once again change his mind back to allowing her to be his POA. He is considered coherent at this time.


Asked on 4/07/18, 9:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
JAY Nixon nixon law offices

Older people often reach a stage where they can be talked into signing anything, which may or may not mean that they are legally incompetent or lack "testamentary capacity" to sign any more estate planning documents. Unfortunately, if you can't resolve this issue via negotiations, you will have nowhere to turn but to the courts, where a judge could hear the evidence and make a ruling on whether or not he still has adequate capacity to know what he is signing. If not, a guardianship is your only option, and the judge would also then have the ability to decide which of you should be in charge, you or the adopted daughter. All the g This could quickly become an extremely expensive litigation, involving paid testimony by competing medical experts, so you should make every effort to avoid that by negotiating a resolution.

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Answered on 4/08/18, 2:54 pm


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