Submitted by BarbP on Sat, 07/23/2011 - 07:21
Posted in
Kind of a complicated situation at my aunt's nursing home. I used to be my aunt's health care agent under an older version of her health care proxy. Last year, after we had a disagreement, she executed a new health care proxy and named my sister as her agent. I had no issue with that and respected her wishes. However, now my sister is moving out of state and my aunt says that because she told the nursing home that she wished to revoke her current proxy that the old one, naming me, is now in force again. She says that she reinstated the old proxy and I'm her agent again. My aunt used to be paralegal, so she's pretty stubborn on this point, but I wonder is she is misunderstanding the law.
Reinstate health care proxy
I share your concerns. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 201D, Section 7, a health care proxy can be revoked by the execution of a new proxy (as was done to the proxy naming you as agent), or by any other act that evidences an intent to revoke the proxy. That intent can be conveyed orally or in writing. So, while your aunt may have successfully revoked her most recent health care proxy, that act of revocation does not reinstate a prior proxy. By law, that prior proxy has been revoked. Assuming your aunt has the capacity to execute a new proxy, this should not be a big deal. Sit down with your aunt and a representative of the nursing home. Ask the nursing home representative to explain that a new proxy is required. They will have a form proxy that you can use. If your aunt does not like the form, you can create a new one based on the prior proxy. Follow this link for more general information about health care proxies. Good luck.