Compiled from the Mail Bag:

Q: My mother and father both made out power of attorney several years ago. They assigned each other, with my brother as the second. My mother passed away last year, and my father is now in a dementia home. My brother is being transferred to an office in Belgium and won't be able to manage my father's affairs from so far away. How can he assign me to take over as poa for my father?

Although we can't and don't give legal advice here, we can give you our "educated opinion:"

When an individual names someone to act as their "attorney in fact," or gives that person Power of Attorney to act on their behalf, they are personally selecting the person they nominate. The person who has been selected has the option to accept the responsibility, or to decline or withdraw, but that person does not have the authority to "reassign" the authority that was granted.

Taking a hypothetical example to the worst extreme (and this certainly doesn't sound like your situation), the originator of a power of attorney may have had a very good reason not to choose someone as their attorney in fact. If the person who ultimately was named had the authority to "reassign" the poa, he or she might choose the one person the originator absolutely did not want. Or, the originally-named person could even select someone to take over who didn't know the originator at all. This would obviously not be in the best interest of the person who originally named someone they trusted as their attorney in fact.

So, the law says that only the person doing the "nominating" in a power of attorney document can make changes. If your brother will not be able to properly manage your father's affairs from so far away, and your father is no longer able to sign legal documents, it appears that your only remaining option would be to ask for legal guardianship from the court. In that case a judge, not your father or your brother, would be appointing someone to look after your father's medical and business affairs.

If your brother is not opposed, and your father is obviously not able to manage his own health and business affairs, obtaining guardianship should typically not be too difficult. You will probably need one or two physicians to testify in person or in writing to his disability, and in most cases lawyers will have to be involved.

The best thing you and your brother can do right now, before he moves overseas, is to have an informational meeting with an attorney who does guardianships. An informational meeting will give you an idea of how complicated it would be to ask for guardianship in your state, how much it would cost, and what steps you would have to take. Some lawyers will give you a free hour to explore your legal situation. If you can't get a free consultation, given that your caregiving duties could become exasperatingly difficult for both of you in the near future, a one hour initial meeting with an attorney would be well worth the expense.

Your local bar association will be able to give you the names of one or more attorneys experienced with guardianship if you need a referral.