Recently, a court found an Iowa man not guilty of sexually abusing his wife who resided in a nursing home and had Alzheimer’s disease.
Here’s a link to the article in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/health/iowa-man-found-not-guilty-of-sexually-abusing-wife-with-alzheimers.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
While the article raises interesting questions about the ability of a person with diminished capacity to consent to sexual activity, the background of the family demonstrates the challenges of planning for a couple who have children from prior marriages.
Clearly, there was tension between the husband and his wife’s children. Good planning requires an elder law attorney to dive deeper into intra-family relationships in second marriage scenarios. Sometimes, it is better to name a more “neural” party as a health care agent or attorney-in-fact when there is not a good relationship between the second spouse and non-biological children. This limits the potential for future conflict and provides a “buffer” so that good decisions can be made for the incapacitated person. Reading the article makes me wonder whether Mrs. Rayhons would have approved of her daughter’s attempt to incarcerate her husband with a ten year felony sentence.
Regards,
Eric