Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410260011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-14 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As the population grays, there will be a lot more people like Geneva Waller. They'll need someone to manage their personal affairs, but have no family members who can do that.
When someone is hospitalized or in a nursing home and unable to make decisions for themselves, who does?
"This is an ethical problem that doctors and nursing homes want to avoid," said Linda Hodges, director of community planning for the Roanoke-based Council of Community Services.
"For an individual with no known family, there's no checks and balances. There's no one there to check on the doctor, to say that the person does or doesn't need certain services."
This has led many hospitals and nursing homes across the nation to request that elderly or incapacitated patients have guardians or attorneys to represent their financial or medical interests.
But it can be tough for people to decide how to abdicate responsibility for themselves or a loved one and choose a person to carry out the duties.
In Roanoke, that's where the Council for Community Services' Guardianship Assistance Panel comes in.
Formed in 1990, the volunteer panel consists of a rotating team of four or five medical professionals and attorneys who advise elderly or incapacitated patients and their families about guardianship and other alternatives. The panel can make suggestions or refer cases to government agencies, but it has no formal power to make people abide by its decisions.
Sometimes, a problem can be resolved easily without even having to formally convene the panel. For Geneva Waller, who needed someone to help manage her finances and personal affairs, the council simply made a phone call and located an attorney who agreed to volunteer his help.
Other times, the issue is not so clear.
To prevent problems, people should educate themselves about options such as guardianship and make provisions today, said John T. Molumphy III, a court-appointed special justice who frequently deals with guardianship issues.
Some options for surrogate decision-making for the elderly include:
Guardianship
Only a circuit court may appoint a guardian for someone, usually after a concerned person petitions the court. Notice is made to the family, and the court holds a hearing to determine if the person is incapable of making sound choices.
If a guardian is appointed, the person named as guardian is given legal control to make decisions concerning every aspect of their ward's life, from where they live to what doctor they see to how their money is spent.
Both Molumphy and Hodges warn against guardianship as an option, except in the most extreme cases of mental incompetence or illness.
"Guardianship strips a person of every single right," Hodges said.
Molumphy added that although most courts require wards to have insurance protecting against theft, there is virtually no supervision of guardians once they are appointed. "You can leave me [as a client] totally impoverished. You can deed my real estate to yourself, you can go to the mortgage company and take loans out in my name, and nobody's going to know until it's too late."
Power of attorney
This is a legal contract signed by two parties that gives a person the right to carry out certain specified tasks for a ward. The person who has power of attorney does not need to be a lawyer, and the contract can give wide-reaching powers, such as the ability to make decisions about life support. Also, it can provide powers as narrow as the ability to sell a specific piece of property for a ward.
It does not require a court appearance and needs only to be signed and notarized.
But there's no requirement for either party to hold insurance against theft, a major concern for most elderly people who sign over their financial rights. Molumphy urges people to consider checks and balances when they sign a contract and to pick someone such as a lawyer who may already have malpractice insurance.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***