• visit our website
• view your statement
• click for an appointment

Planning for the unthinkable with powers of attorney

Imagine yourself suddenly mentally incapacitated

Who would you want to be responsible for managing your money, paying your bills and selling investments or other property if you or your family needed cash?

Who would you want to make decisions about your housing and health care, including whether or not to keep you on life support?

To ensure your wishes are met, you need to prepare and sign two legal documents known as powers of attorneys (POAs) - one to appoint someone to manage your property and the other for your personal care. Like a will, you must be mentally fit at the time you sign these documents. Unlike a will, POAs are valid only while you are alive; the instructions you set out in a will take over upon your death.

POA for property: There are various types of financial POAs, which our team can tell you about. But only a "continuing" POA for property stays in effect if you become mentally incapable after you signed the document. Without one, the courts would have to appoint a guardian to manage your financial affairs. Not even your spouse would have the authority to oversee your assets, unless they were jointly owned.

POA for personal care: The rules here are a little different. Without this document, the right to make health-care decisions on your behalf would be given to your next of kin, according to provincial legislation, usually starting with your spouse. If you had no spouse and more than one child or sibling or parent, authority would be shared. To ease the emotional burden on your family (and potential tension), some of our clients choose to grant this power to a trusted friend instead.

Take an important step this year by creating or updating your POA documents as part of a sound and complete estate plan. We can help, and connect you to estate specialists if needed.

Return to Newsletter

• Financial Calculators
• Reports
• Our Services
• Rate Report