Quote:
Originally posted by bekibug
This is a legal question that I've been thinking about because of this:
When one gets married, doesn't that usually mean that one's spouse is granted Power-of-Attorney in the event of something like this?
I've been wondering, because if so, then it would seem to me that her parents don't legally have an argument for keeping her alive other than it would hurt their feelings and their opinion wouldn't legally matter in whether to keep her feeding tube in or not.
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One's spouse is not granted a power of attorney when you marry. This is kind of technical but a power of attorney can't be implied. You have to give it to someone while you are still healthy. Also it generally only covers financial matters. You are thinking of a living will or a durable healthcare proxy. Those can't be implied either. Both have to be given before you become incapacitated.
What happens, if you become incapacitiated and you haven't created a living will or a healthcare proxy, is that the courts appoint a guardian to make decisions for you, until you gain capacity again or until you die. A guardianship is different because the courts monitor guardians directly. With a healthcare proxy the doctors generally just follow the decisions of the proxy unless someone contests and goes to the court to stop the proxy's decision.
Generally, if you are married, your spouse is automatically presumed to be the person who should be your guardian. However, that can be contested. You need a pretty serious reason to contest, like the spouse himself is incapacitated or the spouse tried to kill the other spouse resulting in the incapacity (a la Sonny Von Bulow). For a guardian to make a decision like this, the guardian must go to the court and ask the courts permission. If it is not contested, it is usually just between the court and the guardian. Other interested parties can contest and can present an opposing viewpoint but if the guardian makes a strong enough showing then the decision goes with what the guardian wants. The parents' opinion isn't completely irrelevant but they would need to have strong evidence which completely refutes the husband's position.
I would also like to mention that this process is slow, cumbersome, and very expensive. This is why we all need a living will or a healthcare proxy. Marriage is no substitute for that.