If a father is suddenly taken ill, his mother is still alive, he has adult children, but no wife, there is no will, or legal power of attorney, who has the legal right to make decisions?
Another person telling you no one. Staples sells power of attorney forms. Check the package to see if it is legal in your state. It will has to be notarized. Banks have notaries so you can take it there and see if they will do it. If you are worried about someones health then you have them in a safety deposit box ready to pull out as needed. Under $10. You can also get the wording for the state he lives in on the internet. Type it up and get it notarized. Any time you need to do something financially you pull it out and show them. It doesn't get filed with the courts. The hospital will try to get the man to sign a legal document giving someone the right to make medical decisions based upon any preferences he selects. That involves life support, and what to do if he can not longer eat on his own. The person who has the directive should be on board with those selections. We had a second person named in case the first person wanted to opt out or isn't available. The person named is also who the doctors and social workers will talk to. Again the people named present a copy to the medical facility, and you can give it to doctors and hospitals to have on file. Call and see if hospital will do one for a healthy person. It is also important that with those HIPPA forms they give you at the doctor's office and hospitals to have the father write down it is okay to disclose information to so and so. Again Staples sells forms for simple wills. They are also on the internet. A lawyer will do a simple one for cheap. It best to go to one then mess it up doing it on your own. The lawyer keeps a copy and when your father dies he/she must turn it over to the courts within so much time. Each state has laws about dying without a will. Trust me it is better if you have one. The state and lawyers get less of the money.
no one if not done see a lawyer fast
no one something needs to be put in writing by him
It's a decision he makes and then it has to be filed with a court. If he's never done this, he should have, and this is exactly why. Nobody has a legal right to make decisions. Depending what the issue is, the court would have to step in.
