A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives someone else the authority to make decisions on your behalf. The term “attorney” refers to the person(s) that you have chosen to act on your behalf. There are three types of POA in Ontario: general POAs for property, continuing POA for property, and POA for personal care. These documents can be very useful planning tools; however, it is important to understand the differences between them so that they can be used optimally. This blog compares the three types of POAs in Ontario.
1. General Power of Attorney for Property
A general POA for property can give your attorney the right to make decisions with respect to all or some of your finances and property. Unless you expressly restrict your attorney’s powers in the POA document, they will be able to do anything that you can do concerning your property, except make a Will.
A general POA can be limited by task, by type of property, and/or by time. For example, you may want to grant a POA for the specific purpose of selling your home. If you do not want everything you own to be managed by your appointed attorney, you could limit the property that is covered by your POA. A common example is to exclude all corporate assets from your POA. You can also specify whether the general POA starts from the moment it is executed or upon a specific date or event. To ensure that the POA is used as intended and without issue, any restrictions placed on the attorney’s powers should be clearly and unequivocally set out in the POA document.
It is important to note that a general POA allows your attorney to act on your behalf only while you are mentally capable of managing your own affairs. The general POA ends and cannot be used if and when you become mentally incapable.
2. Continuing Power of Attorney for Property
A continuing or enduring POA for property is essentially the same as a general POA for property with one key difference: the continuing POA for property allows your attorney to continue acting on your behalf even after you become mentally incapable of managing your own affairs. To ensure that the POA endures beyond your incapacity, the document must be a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property or expressly state that your attorney(s) may continue to act if you become mentally incapable.
In order to make a POA for property, you must be at least 18 years old and possess the requisite level of mental capacity as described in s. 8(1) of the Substitute Decisions Act.
3. Power of Attorney for Personal Care
A POA for personal care covers decisions relating to your personal health and well-being, such as medical treatment, diet, housing, clothing, hygiene, and safety. Similar to a POA for property, the attorney for personal care will have the authority to make almost every decision related to your personal care that you would normally make for yourself unless their powers are otherwise restricted in the POA document.
Unlike a POA for property, a POA for personal care may only be used when you are not mentally capable of making the personal care decision yourself. In other words, your attorney can only step in when there is a personal care decision that you are incapable of making for yourself. Depending on the specific decision at issue, either your attorney or a health professional must determine whether you are incapable of making the decision before your attorney can act on your behalf.
In order to make a POA for personal care, you must be at least 16 years old and possess the requisite level of mental capacity as described in s.47 of the Substitute Decisions Act.
The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee provides POA document templates, which can be found here. However, it is best to obtain legal advice when creating a POA to ensure that it is drafted in a way that will allow your attorneys to manage your property and/or personal care as you intended.
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