Tuzzolino

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Pamala Tuzzolino signed an arbitration agreement purportedly on behalf of her deceased husband, Paul Tuzzolino, when admitting him to a skilled nursing facility.1 Following Paul’s discharge from the facility, Paul and Pamala sued the nursing facility, Windsor Twin Palms Healthcare Center, LLC dba Windsor Palms Care Center of Artesia, and its owners and operators, S&F Management Company, LLC and Windsor OMG Holding Company II, LLC (collectively, Windsor) for negligence and elder abuse. Windsor filed a petition to compel arbitration under the arbitration agreement Pamala executed. The trial court denied Windsor’s petition, concluding Pamala lacked authority to sign the agreement on Paul’s behalf. We agree Pamala’s execution of the arbitration agreement was unauthorized and accordingly, affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In April 2017, Paul executed a Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) appointing Pamala as his agent for specified matters. As relevant here, subdivision “J” of the DPOA, titled “Personal and family maintenance,” granted Pamala the authority “[t]o hire accountants, attorneys at law, consultants, clerks, physicians, nurses, agents . . . and…