QUESTION
Who has medical power of attorney if one was not signed and there are adult children?
Asked on Nov 11th, 2016 on Estate Planning - Michigan
More details to this question:
If you have a parent who is on life support and has no medical power of attorney but has 3 adult children and one minor child, who makes the decisions?
2 ANSWERS
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In many instances a hospital will look to the patient's spouse to make those decisions. Occasionally they will look to a parent. Very rarely the hospital will look to a child or children who are in agreement. However, the appropriate thing to do is to file an emergency petition with the probate court to have someone appointed guardian of the patient to make those decisions. The court will want testimony as to the patient spoken wishes regarding life support and extraordinary measures for prolonging life and regarding his or her stated wishes regarding termination of life support. The court will then determine the limits of the guardian's authority to make final decisions for the patient.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2016 at 5:26 AM
The only people with legal authority are those designated in a written, signed medical power of attorney or appointed by an order of the court, although the medical facility might act on the direction of all of the children, if they all agree and the facility has the impression there is absolutely no dissension in the family.
Answered on Nov 14th, 2016 at 5:26 AM