Avoid These Common Pitfalls in Property Powers of Attorney in Ontario

Lisa was finally leaving for her dream vacation. She wanted her daughter, Chloe, to handle her finances while she was away. She learned that she could specify that Chloe as her property power of attorney to handle her stock portfolio or that she could give her broader powers overall of her financial matters.

Lisa also learned that she was required to indicate whether Chloe’s property powers of attorney would continue to be valid if she became incapacitated over the course of her extended trip.

In Ontario, this is called a continuing powers of attorney under section 7 of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992. Lisa can also place conditions in the power of attorney document to:

– require her property attorney to work together with another attorney
– specify the named attorneys cannot act individually, they must act jointly
– if there are more than two attorneys, consider a tiebreaker option
– specify attorneys can pay for advice from accountants and advisors
– submit annual financial reports to those affected by their actions

Lisa must ensure she names local persons to act as her attorney for property. She can revoke her powers of attorney for property if she has capacity to specifically cancel the document. Revocation of a power of attorney is usually done by preparing a new power of attorney document. This states that you revoke the older document.

You can also sign a written revocation document with two witnesses. If necessary, deliver the revocation to your lawyer and financial institutions. Then destroy any existing copies of the prior power of attorney.

If you suspect financial abuse by a power of attorney, seek legal advice and call me.

Do you have other questions about powers of attorney? Contact me today. I can help.

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I am a Certified Specialist in Estates and Trusts Law. I can give you expert tips to end your worries.