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According to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the express authority given to a spouse to enter into a nursing home admission agreement also gives that spouse the authority to enter into an arbitration agreement.
In Necessary v. Life Care Centers of America, Inc., No. E2006-00453-COA-R3-CV, 2007 WL 3446636 (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 16, 2007), Necessary admitted her husband into Life Care's nursing home facility. During admission, Necessary signed various documents, including an agreement to arbitrate all claims against Life Care. Her husband was admitted to the facility, but later died in its care.
Necessary brought wrongful death claims against Life Care on behalf of her husband. Life Care moved to compel arbitration of all claims under the admissions agreement. Necessary opposed the motion, claiming that she had express authority from her husband to sign medical admission documents to obtain treatment, but did not have the authority to waive his right to a jury trial.
The trial court held that only Necessary was bound to arbitrate her claims against Life Care, and had no authority at the time of admission to bind her husband to arbitration.
On appeal, the Court reversed and remanded, finding that Necessary could bind her husband to the agreement to arbitrate.
The Court noted a recent decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court, Owens v. National Health Corp., No. M2005-01272-SC-R11-CV, 2007 WL 3284669 (Tenn. Nov. 8, 2007), holding that the distinction between the authority to make health care decisions and the authority to make legal decisions was untenable in nursing home admission agreements.
The Court agreed with the Owens court that "signing a contract for health care services, even one without an arbitration provision, is itself a 'legal decision.'" Therefore, Necessary's authority to sign the admission documents at Life Care could also include the authority to sign an associated arbitration agreement on her husband's behalf.
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