Archive for the ‘Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney’ Category
Monday, July 26th, 2010
If a person becomes mentally incapable and has never signed a Power of Attorney for Property and/or Power of Attorney for Personal Care, it may be necessary for someone to make an application to the court to be the incapable person’s guardian of property and/or guardian of the person.
Unfortunately, guardianship applications can become acrimonious where more than one family member vie to be guardian. What is the court’s reaction when the contesting parties are able to come to an agreement and appear to have settled the differences between them? (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Guardianship for an Adult | No Comments »
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
Last week, I discussed the basics of a Power of Attorney for Property. This week I will focus on a related, and equally important, document, a Power of Attorney for Personal Care (POA PC).
A POA PC allows the person(s) you have named to make medical treatment and personal care decisions for you but only if you are mentally incapable of making the decision yourself. There are different tests for mental capacity depending upon the decisions that must be made: (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Estate Planning, Power of Attorney for Personal Care | 1 Comment »
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Ensuring you have a valid, up-to-date Power of Attorney for Property (POA PPY) is an important part of your estate planning. In a POA PPY, you, the ‘grantor’, name someone as your ‘Attorney’ or ‘substitute decision-maker’ who will make decisions for you if you are unable to do so.
You can name one or more people or a trust company to act on your behalf. With the document in hand, they can deal with your property and financial affairs. (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Estate Planning, Power of Attorney for Property | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Question
A few years ago while living in British Columbia, my mother signed a Power of Attorney in which she named me to look after her financial affairs if she could not do so. She recently moved to Ontario and then had a stroke. She is now mentally incapable. Her doctor says it is unlikely that she will recover her mental capacity. My mother’s care costs have gone up and her funds are running low. I need to cash in some of her investments to pay for her care but my mother’s bank refuses to recognize the Power of Attorney document that my mother signed in British Columbia. They say that since it was signed outside of Ontario, they do not consider it valid. What do I do?
Answer
If your mother was living in British Columbia at the time that she signed the Power of Attorney and if the signing of that document was carried out in a way that fully complied with the laws of British Columbia, it should be valid in Ontario as set out in section 85(1) of Ontario’ s Substitute Decisions Act. (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Foreign property, Guardianship for an Adult, Paying Bills for Incapable Person | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
In our experience with wills and estates, we know that most people don’t consider this question but should. When we assist an executor or personal representative, we frequently find that no one knows the computer and other passwords that would allow access to important information.
(more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Computer and Other Passwords, Estate Administration, Paying Bills for Incapable Person | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Question
If I become seriously ill and incapable of making medical treatment and other personal care decisions for myself, I understand that the person that I have named as my attorney for personal care has authority to make such decisions for me (subject to any conditions in the document which appointed the person). If I later recover enough to make those decisions on my own, how do I take back decision-making power? In other words, how do I “turn off’” or stop my attorney for personal care from making decisions that I am now able to make myself. I live in Ontario, Canada. (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Power of Attorney for Personal Care, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
If you have been named as an attorney for property and are about to begin acting or are already acting in that capacity, it is important to be aware of the wide range of responsibilities that you are taking on. Below is a list of ten essential things that you should know. Although not an exhaustive list, it includes ten points that many are not aware of. (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney | No Comments »
Monday, May 25th, 2009
Attorneys for property take note! A recent court decision, Re Schaefers, has provided some guidance as to when the court will remove an acting attorney for property. Generally, the court will not interfere with the choice of an attorney who has been named in a valid Power of Attorney signed by a capable person (the ‘donor’); however, there are times when a court finds that it must intervene. This was one such case. Throughout this blog, where I refer to ‘attorney’ I mean the substitute-decision maker named in a document called a Power of Attorney. In this blog, an attorney does not mean a lawyer. (more…)
Posted in Attorneys Acting under a Power of Attorney, Estate Administration | No Comments »
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