Eldercare update - it's going to hit the fan

We've battened down the hatches and are hunkering down for the storm Shelley is about to release.

Drew is Marvin's Health Care Proxy.  Marvin signed that document months ago, when he was first admitted to the nursing facility, because the social worker at the facility asked him to do so.   Shelley was very upset at the time.  I know she gave Marvin a hard time about it.  She has a friend who works in a nursing home, and she asked that friend to give her a Health Care Proxy form.  She planned to visit Marvin and have him sign the new form, replacing Drew as Marvin's proxy.  The friend never gave her the form.

She's going to be even more upset about what happened this week.

One of the reasons Drew felt he had to step in with respect to Marvin was because of money. 

Marvin doesn't have a pension, his sole income is Social Security.  Awhile back, he gave Shelley a Power of Attorney, and allowed her to handle his meager finances. 

Later, when Adult Protective Services got involved with Marvin's living situation, they took control of his finances.  They receive his monthly check, pay his rent and give him an allowance.  Last winter, they  stopped giving the allowance check to Shelley because she can't produce receipts showing that she spent the money on Marvin.  Since Marvin's been in the rehab center, the APS social worker has been giving Marvin's allowance to Drew, and Drew has used it to buy clothes and other necessities for Marvin.  Of course he has the receipts.

So Drew asked me to draft a Power of Attorney for Marvin's signature, to revoke the prior authority he gave Shelley and to designate Drew as Marvin's agent.  Drew brought the forms to the nursing home and left them with the facility's social worker.  Marvin signed the document a few days ago, and the social worker gave the forms to Drew when he visited Marvin.

Now Drew is in a better position to discuss money with the APS.  Marvin may have to do a spend-down soon to preserve his Medicaid eligibility (yes, there's money in his bank account, Shelley put some of her money there to hide it from her creditors), and Drew wants to make sure it's done correctly.

And then Drew will start working on a plan for Marvin's long-term care.  Right now Marvin is officially listed as a rehab patient, with a care goal of returning home.  But that's not going to happen.

The sad part is, Shelley seems to think this was done to hurt her.  It wasn't.  Drew never wanted to take over Marvin's care.  He just felt he had to do something because Shelley wasn't capable of handling any of this.



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