Posted by BH/FL on 2/12/13 12:26pm
Msg #455459

Power of attorney

I just received a call to notarize a POA. However husband is incompetend to sign. He had a stroke. His wife told me she has a letter from the doctor stating he is incompetend to sign.. Has anybody ever run into a situation like this?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/12/13 12:46pm
Msg #455466

If he's incompetent she needs a court order -

there's nothing you can do.

Reply by JPH13/MO on 2/12/13 12:47pm
Msg #455467

It is sad, but nothing you can do to help them now. You can't notarize his signature if he is incompetent. She needs to contact an attorney and see if there is anything she can do.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/12/13 12:51pm
Msg #455470

Under the circumstances, an emergency petition for

guardianship will be put through very quickly, but she's going to have to consult an attorney - there's no pro se allowed in Probate Court - people MUST have an attorney do it - AND one will probably be appointed for him.

Sad situation that this wasn't taken care of sooner.

Reply by SharonMN on 2/12/13 2:53pm
Msg #455503

Re: Under the circumstances, an emergency petition for

I'm assuming "incompetent to sign" means mentally incompetent. However, you should probably ask the wife, because if he is mentally OK but physically unable to sign, you can probably get around that with signature by mark.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/12/13 3:07pm
Msg #455511

Yep..that's what I ASSumed...immediately..I should

know better than to do that. And she said "His wife told me she has a letter from the doctor stating he is incompetend to sign"

To me, if he's incompetent, it's mental. If it's a physical thing, he's "incapable" - big big difference. Wonder what the wife really meant..