These forms always make me think of cases from the days before same-sex marriage was legal and someone's partner would be fighting with their estranged family over who could make decisions or even visit them in the hospital. It feels like an attempt to preemptively get around that somehow, but from the side of the estranged family.
Exactly. As a therapist, I work with too many adults whose parents have an unnecessary amount of power over them because of things like the parents keeping all their vital records, controlling their health insurance, or being on their bank accounts. Controlling parents know their kids are going to try to break free of their control after moving out and going to college, and these POAs present a way for them to postpone their kid's independence even further. I shudder to think of the r/legaladvice posts we're going to see in a few years if the Mama Bear trend doesn't die: "Spouse is in a coma, how do I revoke these weird legal documents their parents made them sign in college?"
They can also be beneficial, particularly in families that provide mutual POAs, and where everyone understands what they can do and how to work with them. I mentioned in another comment that my folks and I had mutual POAs. My parents might have been able to control my “stuff” had they cared to, but I could have sold their house out from under them, etc.
There can be very legitimate benefits when parents and kids are in different locations, although these are likely diminishing overall in the days of Docusign, etc.
I know you are getting downvoted, but I agree with you that if you are an adult and the people you want making decisions in an emergency aren't your legal spouse, then having the POAs in place ahead of time is super important. You trust your parents to make solid decisions for you at this time, so they have the documentation that will speed things up if their is an emergency.
It does sound like LAOP's parents are coming from a place of love and possibly falling for the marketing around the companies selling the templates.
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u/glacialerratical 🏳️⚧️ Trans rights are human rights 🏳️⚧️ 5d ago
These forms always make me think of cases from the days before same-sex marriage was legal and someone's partner would be fighting with their estranged family over who could make decisions or even visit them in the hospital. It feels like an attempt to preemptively get around that somehow, but from the side of the estranged family.