Is a financial power of attorney legal if the patient signed the agreement while under a medical doctor's care for dementia and the document was not approved by a Judge in a court of law?
Answer
A Power does not need to be approved by a judge. The question is whether the person was competent at the time he or she signed the power. Being "under the care" of a physician doe snot mean he or she was not competent. The question is what is the md's belief as to the competency at the time of the signing.
Answer
Presumably, yes. A person is presumed competent enough to sign a Power of Attorney unless a Court has already ruled that such person is disabled. However, one can sometimes prove in a Court of law that a person was not competent enough to sign a Power of Attorney document at a prior point in time. However, I strongly recommend that you retain an attorney if you are going to take that position, because that can be difficult to prove, even if a doctor has diagnosed that person with dementia.
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