Finances, legal documents, to consider with a family member in the hospital

The following is shared as an educational article and hopefully may be helpful to readers.

As a medical hospital Social Worker in Alberta, Canada just sharing some of my experiences in the past including the pros and cons of working with a legal document called EPOA ( Enduring Power of Attorney) 

I write this as a MSW but am not a lawyer thus if questions one should further consult legal advice.

As a family member who is named as the agent in the EPOA document it is important to understand some of these situations as described below.

There are several situations where the question of finances comes to the surface and as social workers we may be asked to assist. e.g to confirm income level for discharge planning for a higher level of care with an elderly patient, applications for AISH, completion of Income Taxes, updating Alberta Senior’s Benefits and other financial supports. As well, family members may have difficulties to trying to cancel a credit card or utility bill. My first inquiry when dealing with a patient and family is whether there are family members with a joint bank account and /or any other accounts where the patient is the sole person named.

One document that may be presented in this process is called a Power of Attorney Firstly, to be aware that there are two types of EPOAs as to when they become in force or enacted. One is immediately upon signing giving both the patient and named agent the ability to make financial decisions. The second or more common EPOA comes into effect (I.e. enacted ) when the patient loses cognition or mental ability. A written declaration has to be made by either two physicians and/or agent and physician depending on the terms outlined in the EPOA.

Even if correctly enacted, it is my experience that banks have caused delays for patients and access to funds. This centres primarily around the concern of the financial institution that no abuse is occurring - the need to protect people from elder financial abuse which is extremely common and often incredibly easy for others to take advantage of elderly people. 

The banks when presented with a EPOA usually send it to their legal department for review before accepting it. In some cases they want the person/patient to visit or  attend the bank to confirm the validity of the EPOA. However. this is difficult if it is not possible for the patient due to hospitalization. Often my advice would be to the EPOA agent - escalate to the Branch Manager. If that doesn’t work, ask them to escalate to their legal department.That being said if the EPOA is enacted and in good order, there still appears to be some delays by the local branches.

The following is a good article by Canadian Banking Association  https://cba.ca/article/powers-of-attorney-bank-requirements