A recent case before the Mississippi Court of Appeals illustrates the importance of planning for disability, and the importance of remaining loyal to a disabled spouse.  In the Conservatorship of Ellis, husband who was not institutionalized (also known as a Community spouse) was denied the right to be conservator over his institutionalized wife's affairs, despite the existence of a power of attorney appointing the husband as agent, and further despite the fact the his step-granddaughter was appointed by perjured testimony.   Ruby Chism Ellis and Bobbie Ellis had been married since July 2000.  In June 2006, Ruby entered a
nursing home. In 2008, Ruby’s granddaughter filed a petition to be appointed as Ruby’s conservator.
The granddaughter represented to the court that she served the petition on
the husband, but this was apparently not true.  Based upon the perjured testimony, the court granted the granddaughter's request. 

Following her appointment granddaughter arrived at the home of the husband, Bobby, and ordered him to vacate the premises (the home was apparently owned solely by wife).  This was husband's first opportunity to learn of the conservatorship.  Husband had been carrying on an affair over the previous year and a half, even allowing his new girlfriend to live in his wife's house.  The granddaughter then moved money from Bobbie and Ruby's joint bank account to the conservatorship account, at which time Bobbie sought to have himself appointed conservator.  The husband argued that he was his wife's appointed agent under a power of
attorney, and that he was the spouse and entitled to a preference. The court appointed a guardian ad litem reported that the husband had been involved in an adulterous affair, and the trial court declined to dissolve
the conservatorship.  The
court noted that Mississippi law does not give a spouse preference in a
guardianship proceeding and that any procedural deficiency in the granddaughter's appointment was resolved by later pleadings and testimony.  The court went further to state that the presence of a power of attorney does not
deprive a court of jurisdiction.  Despite the perjured testimony of the granddaughter, the court seemed more displeased with the husband's shifted loyalty to his paramour.

In re Conservatorship of Ellis. Complete Case Here