My stepfather recently had a major head injury and has been declared legally incompetent. I suggested to my mother that she get power of attorney over him so that she can take care of his bills for him. she has been told that he may fully recover but in the mean time she needs to be able to get info on his bills so that she can pay them. she cant even get the minimum due from the credit card companies and that would be a problem if she doesn't get one of their bills.i know that no companies will give out that info without her having a power of attorney. but she has been told by a lawyer that she cant get a power of attorney because he has been declared legally incompetent and cant sign his rights over to anybody because his signature is no longer legal. There must be other avenues she can pursue. I would appreciate anyones input. I don't want him to recover and suddenly discover his financial status a mess.
Some suggestions: 1. Go to court and get him declared incompetent. The creditors will respond if you have a court order. 2. You become him. Call the creditors posing as him. Get the info. 3. Get his check book (or his bank statement). Find out who he has paid for the last 6 months. It should give you an idea of his obligations. 4. Use logic with the creditors. Just say - he is brain damaged. "Give me the payment info or you cannot get paid". I had to do this once. They required proof but did finally give me the records. They are not concerned with the laws - the most important thing to them is getting paid. 5. Where are the bills going? Can't you get to them?
I would think that if they are married, there shouldn't be a problem. Does she know his SSN? If so, use the automated system that many CCC's use to talk to a customer service rep. Have her explain what happened and I'm sure that they will have some compassion and give her the information. They may need copies of the POA form in order to let her know anything, but that shouldn't be a problem. If that doesn't work, have the family attorney take care of it.
When was he declared incompetent? Did the cour appoint aguardian at that time? If yes, then the guardian should either take care of the financial matters or sign a POA for someone else to do it. If no guardian was appointed, then your mom should go to court and seek guardianship.
