Quote Originally Posted by Irving View Post
Do we have an answer to this question? Can you have power of attorney over someone, if someone else has power of attorney over you?
Sorry, I haven't been monitoring this question. Yes, you can have power of attorney for each other. If you questions someone's competency, even for a brief period, you revoke that power of attorney. I would expect revoking powers of attorney would be one of the very first things people would do when contemplating a split -- if they don't, the consequences are much the same as you could expect for a bitter divorce (think "War of the Roses").

You lose no rights when you issue a POA although you have given someone else the power to act as you. My mother holds a durable general POA and has for years. I did this in the event I was incapacitated while on active duty -- it allows her pay my bills using my funds, sign contracts (e.g., to rent or sell my home), etc.

If the issue is a hospital not observing the POA for visitation or other reasons then the reform is to fix the hospital's policies, NOT further diminish the concept of marriage. I have to wonder why the media and Left are so deadset on pushing homosexual marriage when they are just as opposed to polygamy. At least polygamy has deep historic and cultural roots to draw on for its legitimacy -- and it can be further extended into broader concepts of "family" like Heinlein's "line marriages". Side issues like this are why I firmly believe the push for homosexual marriage is less about "love" and the reasons given by homosexual activists and more about destroying any traditional structures or organizations within European or American society. If for nothing else, I want to hold the line until they come up with more rational arguments and consistency in their reasoning.

A durable general POA does NOT give you rights to someone else's Social Security after they die. This aspect of SS is a holdover from another era anyway and I think is a red herring since the SS system is an underfunded Ponzi scheme anyway -- the very last thing it needs is to get even MORE freeloaders dumped into its system.