Legal Question in Elder Law in Wisconsin

Sometime, when protective placement in a locked ward (i.e. memory care or dementia unit), there is no alternative to a guardianship and protective placement, even if you have a valid, prior, power of attorney (POA), due to the restraint upon the person's freedom of movement. Your county department on aging will usually file this, but the wife or family may do so as well. Short of such a placement, however, a valid power of attorney signed before the onset of incompetency can avoid the need for a formal guardianship. Lacking one of those, however, their may be no alternative to formal guardianship if you wish to obtain legal authority to make decisions for your husband. Mere marriage to him does not give you legal grounds to do this. Actually, two separate POAs are needed under WI law, one for medical decisions and the other for financial. Talk to a lawyer about getting these, which should really not cost very much at all.

Do not assume that I am your attorney because of my response here, since I would not normally be taking any further action on your case. You can request further clarifications on AVVO or see my past answers here which might help you at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-152918.1/answers.html?sort=recency , or at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon.