Brethren, MI Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

This sounds kind of like a law school question. I would say that there is no malpractice and no claim. It very likely says in the DPOA that any party honoring its terms is protected from liability. That lets out the hospital and nursing home. You do not say whether the DPOA was notarized or not. If it was, then witnesses are not needed at all. I am not sure about the DNR form. That may not need witnesses, either, but that would vary from facility to facility, because there is no state authorized form for that. As far as the son is concerned, if the hospital recognized him as the next of kin or the authorized party, it can accept his authority, certainly in the absence of any indication to the contrary. Situations like this are very often judgment calls made during a crisis situation. It is always easy to criticize and second-guess, when time has elapsed and tensions have eased. If a facility is sued every time it honors someone's end of life decisions, NONE of those decisions will be honored in the future. That is not good policy.

It is almost certainly covered in the Will. If not specified, then it would pass under the "residuary clause" of the Will. That usually says something like, "I leave all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to..."

As long as your mother has legal capacity, there is very little you can do, other than to communicate with her and try to persuade her to seek help. You can suggest that she meet with an attorney to get her estate planning in order. She should have a general durable power of attorney, for example, for health and financial matters. That way, if she ever loses capacity, you can step in and take care of things to protect her. If that were to happen and you did not have POA, then you would need to go to the probate court to seek appointment as her guardian and conservator. Unfortunately, that does not solve the ongoing issue of her gambling. The law normally does not protect people from themselves and the unhealthy choices. In Michigan, at least, you are not responsible for HER debts, and any creditors that she has can only come after HER assets.