## Q77 key (Capacity Crisis)

1. Eleanor's recent delirium and present difficulty with complex investments do not establish global incapacity. She demonstrates capacity for residence, routine expenses, and supported choices; a decision-specific reassessment after treatment is required. Missed: diagnosis and one hard question erase her autonomy.
2. The physician's certification likely activated the power because the instrument requires one physician's finding and the note finds temporary inability to manage complex financial affairs, but the authority must be reassessed promptly as the note directs. Activation never authorizes prohibited self-dealing. Marcus's $85,000 transfer is an unauthorized loan or self-interested transfer, requiring immediate accounting, suspension, tracing, and recovery. Missed: temporary activation is mistaken for unlimited or self-interested authority.
3. Nina's health proxy governs medical decisions only when Eleanor lacks capacity for the particular decision. It grants no authority to sell the home, control accounts, or place Eleanor over her objection. Missed: a medical proxy becomes a general guardianship without process.
4. Seek an emergency protective order suspending Marcus, freezing the $85,000 and related accounts, compelling an accounting, and appointing a neutral temporary conservator for bill payment and asset protection for no more than 30 days. Authorize only the mortgage, home-care payroll, ordinary expenses, and investigation needed during the 12-day emergency. Missed: bills default or a full guardian receives unnecessary control.
5. Arrange the geriatric specialist's decision-specific assessment in 14 days after continued recovery. Use Eleanor's chosen independent accountant, automatic payments, and supported decision-making meanwhile. Missed: permanent orders rest on reversible delirium or no one protects the near-term accounts.
6. Full guardianship, forced sale, and placement are not justified now because clear global inability and failure of less restrictive alternatives are absent. If ongoing limits remain, consider a narrowly tailored conservatorship for complex investments, not personal guardianship. Missed: the least-restrictive mandate is bypassed.
7. Counsel Eleanor separately, document her wishes, use separate counsel or mediation for Marcus and Nina, and pursue return of the $85,000 without conditioning Eleanor's home preference on family alignment. Missed: counsel becomes lawyer for the family factions rather than the adult client.