His illness came on suddenly and he's been a vegetable for over 3 weeks, his family and I are all in agreement that his sister should be the decision maker as to his treatment, etc,and the hospital recognizes her as the decision maker, however, there is no power of attorney documents. I know she can go to court for guardianship but that is costly. I think she should have access to his bank accounts, etc and without a legal document, the bank won't work with her.( he doesn't have a lot in the bank to begin wtih but the bank won't budge) His family thinks she should just wait til he passes, then figure out finances. The doctors are not hopeful that his condition will improve.He can live like this for years. Is ther anything she can do to close his bank accounts, or at least have more rights?
You need to consult with an attorney in your area familiar with end of life issues, laws vary from state to state so your situation is far too complex for any answers in this forum.
Unless you were married to your ex and are still married to him, you have no legal say in what happens to him at all. His biological family need to go to court and petition for either guardianship or conservatorship since he didn't leave either a power-of-attorney or a living will. And frankly speaking, until a family member (or the Public Guardian) does this, the family (including the sister) has no right to access any of his money in his bank accounts. And the bank is right to refuse this access! If his sister (or other family members) want access to your ex's finances, then they must go to court. If they do not, I think you will find that the hospital's social workers bring in the Public Guardian themselves to provide protection for your ex's fiances. And by the way, that money can only be used for your ex's care. It can't be used to benefit his family or anyone else before his death. And if they do use it for their own interests, they could face criminal charges. Oh and as for waiting until he dies, even then if there is no will, then the monies/assets will be distributed according to state law and not according to how the family wants. Good luck.
She needs to be appointed his guardian. Otherwise, no. Peace.
