POWER OF ATTORNEY

A Power of Attorney is a legal document that gives another person (the “Attorney”) the legal power to take care of financial and legal matters on your behalf.  It is a simple and affordable way to plan ahead in case you are away, injured or incapacitated due to physical or mental health problems.  If you are unable to sign a document or pay a bill, your attorney may do so on your behalf.  If you do not have a Power of Attorney, the Courts may appoint a Committee, which can be costly and time consuming as well as stressful to your family.  When you prepare a Power of Attorney, you appoint who you wish to deal with your financial and legal matters.   

It is extremely important that the person you appoint to be your Attorney is someone you trust completely because of the broad powers granted to the Attorney.  The person must also accept the responsibility and must also execute the Power of Attorney document.  You can appoint more than one attorney to act together or independent of each other.  The Attorney should keep accurate records of your activities and must act honestly and in good faith.  If you do not completely trust your Attorney, you should not be making the Power of Attorney.

The Power of Attorney must be signed before a Notary Public or a Lawyer.  The person granting the Power and the person accepting the Attorney both, will require their signatures notarized.  The Notary or Lawyer will generally speak to both parties separately and both parties will require adequate identification when they attend at the Notary’s or Lawyer’s office.  The original Power of Attorney is generally given to the client for safekeeping or for delivery to the donor. 

A General Power of Attorney gives your attorney the power to deal with your financial and legal matters as if they were you.  The Power of Attorney is in effect from the minute it is signed.  Once the Power of Attorney is granted, your attorney can deal with your Bank accounts, sell your house or car and can even deal with Revenue Canada.   A Power of Attorney is a very powerful document and requires careful consideration.

An enduring Power of Attorney is one that continues on if you become mentally incapacitated.  You must add in the appropriate clause to ensure that your Power of Attorney will not expire in the case of mental incapacity.  (Please note: that there is currently legislation that will be amending this - watch this site for more info.