Q: Health Care Power of attorney liability to the POA
I am the health care and financial power of attorney for my 87 year old father. He lives in the mountains in Colorado by himself and does not drive anymore. I have tried to convince him to move to a senior care facility but he doesn't think he needs it yet. He occasionally gets confused about the time of day and walks 100 yards from his house to the bus stop in the middle of the night. If he fell on an icy sidewalk or street in the middle of the night and couldn't get up and died from exposure to the cold, could I be held liable?
A:
No. As the attorney in fact named in the POA, your fiduciary duty is to follow the instructions of your 87 year old father.
If your father gets to a point where he is mentally incompetent to make decisions for himself, you or another relative could apply to be appointed as your father's guardian. A guardian has a legal duty to act in the best interests of the ward. That is a different standard than applies to an attorney in fact named in a POA.
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