This article explores the current landscape of litigation regarding the effect of a responsible party signing binding arbitration agreements when admitting an incapacitated person into a nursing home or long term care facility. Courts throughout the nation have split on whether a responsible party, who does not have legal authority through a guardianship or power of attorney, may act to bind a person, even when state statutes give specific authority for such a party to admit a loved one into a nursing home. The effect of a responsible party signature may have profound effects on the nursing home, but also the responsible party and resident.
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Published in LTC-SIR Advisor, Volume 14, Issue 2, July 2011.