I’m looking for some help. My son will be turning 18 in October and a lot of the dr are now asking him stuff and even wanting to talk to him to schedule appointments and what not. My sons mentality is about 9-10 he isn’t able to make decisions. I was told I need to do a medical power of attorney but I can’t seem to find how to do it when he is disable and will soon be an adult.
You’ll probably have to go to your local probate court and petition for guardianship of your son once they become an adult
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Hello there! This is just a link from WebMD but it has the basics on what you’re asking I think. Sorry for your difficulty!
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Hey Bridget,
You ask about Medical Power of Attorney, and it seems that each state tends to have it’s own rules/regulations/guidelines in regard to POA authority. Here is a link specifically for Disability Rights Ohio. On the left is a menu of topics, have a look through. It’s a handy resource to refer to.
Disability Rights Ohio - What You Should Know About Ohio’s New Guardianship Rules If You Have a Guardian
I have previously had a fair bit of experience with guardianship and MPOA, but in Australia, not Ohio. An MPOA gives you ‘some’ say over medical and legal, where guardianship gives you say over everything. It is my understanding that if your son has the mental age of 9-10 it would be wise for you to obtain both guardianship AND MPOA. I say this because some medicos may not accept guardianship orders to include medical, where having a specific medical allows you to have some input.
An Advance Directive allows an individual to list their wishes, so that in the case they are unable to express their wishes it is documented somewhere BUT in some cases the medicos can disregard those wishes unless there is a legal MPOA in place that can be enforced by the individual listed. Also with your son’s disability he may not be able to comprehend or understand the content of an Advanced Directive and this too could bring it’s validity into question. ie ‘Whose wishes are these? The patients or the parents?’
I say all of this because I have been in a situation where a POA was in place but not a medical POA and the medicos disregarded the information provided by family as to the patient’s wishes. This caused a bad situation to be made even worse.
Another point I’d like to mention is that in some places 18yr olds are considered adults. Trying to obtain court orders after 18yrs can add another layer of complexity to the processes, so I’d recommend making enquires/decisions prior to your son’s 18th. I’d also recommend you speak to a lawyer in your jurisdiction because as I say, the laws vary somewhat from state to state .
Hope it helps
Merl from the Modsupport Team
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