I have a theory on this. I'm sure a lot of people on here are in the same situation as I. My mother has end-stage dementia. I fought against the nursing home(s) and hospital(s) to get a durable power-of-attorney so I could act as her attorney-in-fact. I say I fought because the dementia hit very fast and the hospitals and homes all said her competency scores were too low for her to sign the DPOA. They insisted I had to go to court in FL (I live in TX) to get guardianship over her, which would've taken months and cost $15-20k at a minimum. I required this because I needed to get her on Medicaid for the nursing home care or she would be discharged on the street or put in a crap facility to die.

I finally found a lawyer that told me because the doctors never put their names to anything declaring her incompetent, I could have a lawyer and social worker visit her, question her, and have her sign the DPOA as along as they believed she knew what she was signing. It cost me about $1.5k (not counting the $4-5k it took to find a Medicaid-helping agency) and it worked. Her handwriting was awful, and I had to be on speaker phone remotely, but my nephew was able to be there in person (he lived with her before she got sick). The lawyer asked her questions she could answer and i got my DPOA. He did NOT ask stupid things like what day or year is it, or who is the President or Governor. Those questions are beyond stupid to ask someone who has been in a hospital or nursing home for months, doesn't have her glasses or hearing aids (stolen), and is bed-ridden. If I am sick for a few days in bed I won't know if it is Tuesday or Sunday unless I have a watch or phone to look at.

The reason I brought all of this up is simple. I bet Jill has a DPOA over Joe and is working as his attorney-in-fact. She can sign for him as his representative - legally. I do it all the time. I've taken over Mom's bank accounts so I can jump through all the hoops Medicaid requires (like special trust accounts, specific dollar amounts allowed in accounts, and transferring ownership of certain things she is no longer allowed to have. I had to fight with her 2 banks just to get on the accounts, let alone own them. They ultimately had no choice thanks to my legal documents.

Someone (like a Judicial Watch group) needs to FOIA a DPOA between Joe and Jill. The result of that FOIA could be Earth-shattering.

PS - I implore anyone with elderly parents to talk with them to get a DPOA while they can still understand what is happening. If they are worried you are trying to take advantage of them, tell them to get a lawyer to hold the document until you are declared incompetent or you specifically tell them to release it to you. Nobody thinks about these things until the last minute and it becomes a pain-in-the-ass exactly when you don't need the stress.