Power Of Attorney For Property And Power Of Attorney For Personal Care
Executing a Power of Attorney (POA) could be even more relevant for certain individuals than executing a Will. Your Filipino lawyer in Toronto will help you figure out which document is more important for you for the time being. It is ideal to have both, however, if you have to choose, we can definitely help you do the process of elimination.
If you do not have a POA and you are too incapacitated physically or mentally to make decisions about your treatment and your property, the Public Guardian and Trustee may end up with having that power over your important matters. This means that you can receive treatment that you may not have consented to, more so, it can also remove from your loved ones the right to make decisions that you may have otherwise wanted your loved ones to have discretion to do. If this happens, your loved ones lose the power to make choices on your behalf and regaining it will cost a lot of time and money.
Effectivity of a Power of attorney
When does a POA come into effect? It really depends on how the POA is written. It can take effect as soon as it is executed, or later on when a doctor suspects that the grantor displays a lack of mental ability to make rational decisions over his or her property or health.
Mental incapacity can occur in various ways. It can be progressive such as when an individual has an Alzheimer’s disease or abrupt i.e., when the grantor had just had a stroke or met a vehicular accident affecting his or her mental acuity.
Two Types of Powers of Attorney
Effectivity of a Power of attorney
When does a POA come into effect? It really depends on how the POA is written. It can take effect as soon as it is executed, or later on when a doctor suspects that the grantor displays a lack of mental ability to make rational decisions over his or her property or health.
Mental incapacity can occur in various ways. It can be progressive such as when an individual has an Alzheimer’s disease or abrupt i.e., when the grantor had just had a stroke or met a vehicular accident affecting his or her mental acuity.
Two Types of Powers of Attorney
1. Power of Attorney for Property
A POA for property relates to the power to render financial decisions in the grantor’s best interests by virtue of the Substitute Decisions Act. These decisions include but are not limited to the following:
- Day-to-day management of the individual’s income and savings,
- Budgeting and payment of expenditures, and
- Decisions relating to the living expenses and
- Place of residence of the person.
What can be done by your Attorney for Property?
The kinds of things that your attorney can legally do are totally dependent on how much control you give to them in your POA. You either have a General Property Power of Attorney that includes all of your property and financial matters or you could issue a more detailed Power of Attorney for Property that requires only the management of certain matters.
What you ask your attorney to do, and when you allow them to do it must clearly be outlined. You must explicitly state conditions and terms if, for example, you only wish your Power of Attorney to take effect at some point in the future, or if it hinged on a particular event.
2. Power of Attorney for Personal Care
A POA for personal care applies to the process of making decisions pertaining to medical care, personal hygiene, housing, nutrition, and clothing, by virtue of the Substitute Decisions Act (s. 46)). An attorney for personal care authority has specific qualifications and limitations were placed on who may be hired as an attorney for personal care. To prevent the grantor from being placed in a compromising position, these qualifications and limitations are to be observed.
The law does not allow the appointment unless the attorney is either the spouse, partner or relative of the grantor, of an individual who provides healthcare upon the grantor’s compensation. The following are vital points involved in drafting a POA for personal care:
- Designation of a person for health-care issues
- A POA must be written and requires witnesses
- A POA can be revoked
- It can provide direction and guidance for choices involving personal care
- Valid only when the grantor can no longer make decisions for himself or herself
- Attorneys need to keep records of every decision they make
- Compensation is not specified
1. Power of Attorney for Property
A POA for property relates to the power to render financial decisions in the grantor’s best interests by virtue of the Substitute Decisions Act. These decisions include but are not limited to the following:
- Day-to-day management of the individual’s income and savings,
- Budgeting and payment of expenditures, and
- Decisions relating to the living expenses and
- Place of residence of the person.
What can be done by your Attorney for Property?
The kinds of things that your attorney can legally do are totally dependent on how much control you give to them in your POA. You either have a General Property Power of Attorney that includes all of your property and financial matters or you could issue a more detailed Power of Attorney for Property that requires only the management of certain matters.
What you ask your attorney to do, and when you allow them to do it must clearly be outlined. You must explicitly state conditions and terms if, for example, you only wish your Power of Attorney to take effect at some point in the future, or if it hinged on a particular event.
2. Power of Attorney for Personal Care
A POA for personal care applies to the process of making decisions pertaining to medical care, personal hygiene, housing, nutrition, and clothing, by virtue of the Substitute Decisions Act (s. 46)). An attorney for personal care authority has specific qualifications and limitations were placed on who may be hired as an attorney for personal care. To prevent the grantor from being placed in a compromising position, these qualifications and limitations are to be observed.
The law does not allow the appointment unless the attorney is either the spouse, partner or relative of the grantor, of an individual who provides healthcare upon the grantor’s compensation. The following are vital points involved in drafting a POA for personal care:
- Designation of a person for health-care issues
- A POA must be written and requires witnesses
- A POA can be revoked
- It can provide direction and guidance for choices involving personal care
- Valid only when the grantor can no longer make decisions for himself or herself
- Attorneys need to keep records of every decision they make
- Compensation is not specified
If you are an attorney as defined by a POA for either property or personal care or both, you must ensure that your roles and rights are recognized and understood. You should get legal advice from an estate lawyer. AJ LAW LLP’s Filipino Lawyer handles estate arbitration, estate management and estate dispute resolution.
AJ Law LLP’s office is located in the same building as the Philippine Consulate General which makes it very convenient for our clients to find us and let us help them regarding this service. A kind reminder that the information on this website is not to be considered legal advice but merely for informative purposes.
Get in touch with our Angeles & de Jesus Law LLP team at 160 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 406, Toronto, ON or via phone at +1 (416) 409-5991 or email us at info@ajlawpartners.ca for your FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION. You can also visit our website https://www.ajlawpartners.ca/ for more information about the services we offer. We would be pleased to serve your legal needs.
If you are an attorney as defined by a POA for either property or personal care or both, you must ensure that your roles and rights are recognized and understood. You should get legal advice from an estate lawyer. AJ LAW LLP’s Filipino Lawyer handles estate arbitration, estate management and estate dispute resolution.
AJ Law LLP’s office is located in the same building as the Philippine Consulate General which makes it very convenient for our clients to find us and let us help them regarding this service. A kind reminder that the information on this website is not to be considered legal advice but merely for informative purposes.
Get in touch with our Angeles & de Jesus Law LLP team at 160 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 406, Toronto, ON or via phone at +1 (416) 409-5991 or email us at info@ajlawpartners.ca for your FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION. You can also visit our website https://www.ajlawpartners.ca/ for more information about the services we offer. We would be pleased to serve your legal needs.
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