• master5o1@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Typically PoA is instated before someone has a mental decline.

    But at 90, that’s probably already begun.

      • treefrog
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        1 year ago

        More like obviously but it’s not because of age. My grandad was sharp as a tack up until 96.

        Pneumonia got him.

        • BedSharkPal@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          It’s crazy to me the difference in mental acuity between older individuals. Like it’s there in all age brackets, but the older folk spread just seems so much larger and obvious to me.

    • jumperalex@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Legally you can’t even create the PoA if the person isn’t deemed competent because they can’t sign it. So then you have to go to a judge for them to appoint someone.

      So by the letter of the (IANAL but I’m working this issue with family right now) law, the fact that a PoA might have just been created means she has to be considered competent enough to sign on.

      But yeah the line between “I’d trust them with my life” and “no one in their right mind would allow them to sign” is broad.

      • KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Also not a lawyer but also going through family stuff right now.

        There can be two different types of PoA that I know of. One is a financial PoA, another is a medical PoA. Then there is sometimes something called a “springing” clause, which defines when the PoA goes into effect. For example if the attending physician determines the person is no longer competent to manage their own financial or medical decisions. I would guess Feinstein qualifies for both of those.

        And of course you would have hopefully created that PoA while you were still healthy, but it remains inactive until the condition of the springing clause is met.

    • theangryseal@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I am not trying to downplay the situation, as I am completely aware of just how much her health has declined recently.

      That said, I have a 91 year old friend who wakes up at 4:30 every morning and heads to his log yard and gets to work. He doesn’t slack. He literally works like a man half his age (or better). It blows my mind seeing him in action. He runs multiple companies, bosses over 60 people, handles the affairs of his family, and legit is just a powerhouse of a human being.

      It’s crazy to me, sometimes when I talk to him it just smacks me in the face how he was 15 years old in 1947.

      So much has changed in his lifetime. He’s an interesting case if nothing else.

      I should probably talk to him about more personal things and record it.

    • L3s@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think her mental state is a question at this point. She’s obviously not able to make decisions for the country right now.