EPISODE 8- Legal Docs, The Basics

When it comes to aging, having the right legal documents in place can protect your voice, your wishes, and your family’s peace of mind. In this episode, Jamie Callahan breaks down the basics of powers of attorney, guardianship, conservatorship, POLST, and advance directives—what they are, when they matter, and what happens if you don’t have them in place soon enough.

She covers:

• What a power of attorney can and can’t do
• Why banks often reject standard POA documents
• How guardianship and conservatorship differ—and when they’re necessary
• The role of POLST and advance directives in life-or-death situations

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to plan ahead with clarity and confidence—not in crisis.

📞 Questions? Call Team Senior at (541) 295-8230.

Transcript

Hi, this is Jamie Callahan with the Team Senior Podcast. Our goal is to simplify aging. Society grooms us to plan for retirement—but what about life beyond retirement, where the rubber meets the road? Perhaps you've had a stroke, or you've been diagnosed with cancer, or maybe you're forgetting things and now you have dementia.

That's our area of expertise, and we are here to share our insight.

Welcome to the Team Senior Podcast.

Hi, this is Jamie Callahan, and we are going to talk a little bit today about legal documents—the types of legal documents that exist, when you need to put them in place, and some things you should certainly know about their timing.

So the first one I want to talk about is a power of attorney. Often folks refer to this as a P.O.A. A P.O.A. can really be anyone in your life, and it’s something you get to give away at will—and also take away at will.

A power of attorney is sometimes an adult child, maybe a dear friend, maybe a sibling, someone from your church, a neighbor, or something like that. But ultimately, you want your power of attorney to be someone you trust implicitly.

Something important to know is that while a power of attorney allows someone to come alongside you and make decisions, it does not take away your authority to make decisions for yourself.

For example: if your adult daughter is your power of attorney and she signs a document on your behalf, she can only do that if you’re in agreement. You still have final authority—even after assigning a power of attorney.

It’s also important to know that a general power of attorney is almost never valid at your bank. Banks usually have their own internal power of attorney forms. So even if you’ve created a financial or durable POA, you’ll likely need to go into the bank—with the person you're authorizing—and sign their documents.

So again, your power of attorney—even if it’s valid elsewhere—won’t usually work at your bank.

Now I want to pivot and talk a little bit about guardianship and conservatorship—and how they’re different.

These are court-appointed roles. They’re not something you can just assign like a power of attorney. You need an attorney to help you go through the process and petition the court for guardianship or conservatorship.

This usually happens when a loved one—maybe a spouse, adult child, or sibling—is no longer capable of making safe or rational decisions. The family would work with an attorney to present the case to a judge.

For example:
 Let’s say your dad has dementia. He’s not safe at home anymore, and he refuses to move into memory care. Maybe he’s been combative, verbally abusive, or is wandering out of the house—what we call an elopement risk. If he’s not agreeing to go into care, this is where guardianship or conservatorship becomes necessary—because it removes the individual’s legal authority to say no, in the interest of their safety.

Sometimes, we can still work with the senior and get their agreement.

There was a family we worked with some years ago where the grandmother was giving away hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars every month to a grandson living with her. He claimed he would care for her—but he wasn’t. She was no longer safe at home, and her funds were being drained.

We worked with the family and the grandmother to explain that granting conservatorship to her adult children would let them manage her finances. That way, she wouldn’t be in the position of constantly saying no to her grandson—something that was emotionally difficult for her.

She agreed, and we helped guide the family through the process with an attorney. They were able to get conservatorship in place.

To clarify:

• Guardianship = makes healthcare and personal decisions
• Conservatorship = manages finances, bills, home sale, etc.

If you're going to become someone’s conservator, be aware that there’s a lot of court oversight. The court will want to see where every cent goes. It’s not rocket science—but it’s a serious commitment, with strict documentation requirements.

Again, the key difference between power of attorney and guardianship/conservatorship is this:

• Power of attorney allows you to help someone—but they still retain their legal decision-making rights.
• Guardianship and conservatorship are court-ordered and remove the individual’s ability to make decisions on their own.

Another important thing to know is that POA must usually be granted before a dementia diagnosis. If someone is already diagnosed with dementia, they may no longer be considered competent to assign POA.

So in progressive dementia cases, if a POA hasn’t been established early on, you may have no choice but to go to court for guardianship or conservatorship.

That’s why we encourage families—years in advance—to start thinking about who they trust, and who they want in that role.

Because if someone waits too long, the courts become involved, and it can cost thousands of dollars to resolve.

Again, we can help walk you through all of this.

And I want to pause here and say—you don’t have to remember all of this. I often say we’re the company that would answer the phone on Christmas morning—and that couldn’t be truer.

If you call us, we’ll help you. We won’t make you jump through a bunch of hoops or answer a million questions. We’ll get right to the point:

• What’s going on?
• How can we help?
• What do you need next?

And if something doesn’t work out the first time, call us back. We’ll keep helping you until you’re through it.

Now, let’s talk quickly about the POLST.

That’s the Physician’s Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment. It’s usually on a bright pink piece of paper. Most people keep it on their refrigerator. That’s because emergency responders know to look there.

The POLST essentially answers one major question:
 Do you want to be resuscitated—or not?

If 911 is called and you can’t answer questions, that document tells the paramedics what to do. It avoids confusion in a moment where every second counts.

Now let’s talk about the Advance Directive.

It goes hand-in-hand with the POLST. The advance directive is something we recommend for everyone—not just seniors. Even if you’re 22 years old and you have strong opinions about being put on a ventilator or receiving tube feeding, this document gives you a voice in a medical emergency.

It also allows you to appoint someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf if you're incapacitated.

And here’s something important:
 That person named in your advance directive trumps your power of attorney when it comes to end-of-life medical decisions.

So, for example:
 You’ve been resuscitated, and now doctors are trying to decide whether to continue certain treatments. If you’re unable to speak, the person named in your advance directive is the one empowered to make those decisions for you.

So again:

• The POLST says: Do I want to be resuscitated or not?
• The Advance Directive says: Now that I’ve been resuscitated, how do I want to be cared for—and who decides?

So I’m going to close out this episode. I know that was a lot of information. And we didn’t even get into topics like wills, estates, or probate—we’ll probably cover those in another episode.

But if you have questions, please give us a call. It’s always great to check in with you all.

Thank you for listening to the Team Senior Podcast. We’re here every week sharing new and relevant information.

Remember, we’re just a phone call away. Team Senior can be reached at (541) 295-8230.

Until next time, this is Jamie Callahan.