Tips for Legal Agents (Representatives) Under Power of Attorney
So, you’ve been named as someone’s attorney-in-fact (“Agent”)… now what? To make a long answer short- it depends.
The first question any Agent must ask herself is whether the Power of Attorney document (“POA”) grants her the authority to act on the Principal’s behalf immediately (known as a durable power of attorney), or if the Power of Attorney only comes into effect upon a...
Who’s doing that Medicaid application?
An application for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care can be filed by the individual himself, his spouse, another relative by blood or marriage, a staff member of an agency of which the person is a client, the person’s physician, the person’s attorney, or a designated staff member at the nursing home. Of course, a court-appointed Guardian or Agent under Power of Attorney could...
Thwarted by HIPPA rules? Persevere.
Protected health information can’t be disclosed to anyone but the patient or the patient’s authorized recipients. If you are the court-appointed Guardian of an incapacitated person, or you are a designated Agent under a Health Care Proxy or Health Care Power of Attorney, you may have encountered roadblocks in trying to get access to the records of the person you are acting for....
What are HIPPA forms and why do you need them?
What is known as “HIPPA” was enacted by Congress as the Health Insurance Protection and Portability Act of 1996. 42 USC 1320d-6. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1320d-6 It is designed to protect the confidentialiy of a patient’s medical information. The extensive federal regulations are found at 42 USC part 160....
Supported Decision-Making as an Alternative to Guardianship
Back on May 29-30 I participated in the 3rd World Congress on Adult Guardianship in Arlington VA and followed up with blog posts about alternative approaches to guardianship around the world. Supported Decision-Making is a concept that is gaining traction in many places and certainly deserves careful consideration here in New Jersey. It’s more complicated than merely entering an...