My mother in law is dying. Her only child, my husband, does not have the Health Care Proxy nor Power of Attorney. (She set it up when he was 15, and she never changed it.)
Her HCP/POA does not like me. She is prohibiting me from visiting her in Hospice and from attending the (eventual) funeral. (She has had her feeding tube removed and is on "comfort measures only.")
I just want to be able to say, "Good Bye." My husband has tried to reason with her and has gotten no where. Is there anything I can do? If I show up, can she prevent me from visiting? Legally ...
Thank You
I have heard story after story where a Power of Attorney makes a short phone call to the nursing home and say’s “I don’t want so&so (in most cases it’s a blood relative of the patient) to have any more visits or communication with the patient”
With no questions asked the nursing home will then follow the instructions. I’ve even heard of a case where the power of attorney instructed staff to remove the patents personal phone from their room with further instructions not to allow the patient to receive any phone calls through the house phone without first getting the OK from the power of Attorney.
The thing that pisses me off the most is when I read thing like the Power of Attorney don’t (Generally) have this kind of authority. Or some just come out and say, taking away a basic human right visitations can only be done through a court order, period.
Why then does every nursing home comply no questions asked?
Doesn't a power of attorney have to accountable to anyone. Or at least be required to give good cause in front of a judge before being allow to sever family relationships with no more than a quick phone call.
I'm going to start blogging about this.
He then wrote a strongly worded letter to the hospital and the POA saying there was nothing within the scope of power giving the POA the power to control visitations and to uphold the request to bar your visitations was illegal.
He demanded an immediate cease and desist or further legal action will be taken notice.
That did the trick. They laid down like sack of potatoes.
It cost me about 600.00 but it was worth every penny.
Most people don’t the POA’s because they just don’t know the scope of their power. It’s not uncommon for them to over step the limits of their power and it’s really is a problem
Read this article about visitation rights, it's really an eye opener.
legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary/Visitation+Rights
canhr/reports/VisitationRightsGuide.pdf
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