A will does nothing until you die. A power of attorney is the document that decides what happens if you are alive but cannot manage your own affairs — which is the scenario families are least prepared for.
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Ontario has two, and they are not interchangeable. A continuing power of attorney for property covers finances — banking, bills, investments, and dealing with real property. The word 'continuing' is what allows it to keep operating after you lose capacity, which is the entire point.
A power of attorney for personal care covers decisions about health care, housing, nutrition and safety.
Ontario's terminology is 'continuing power of attorney for property'. Several other provinces say 'enduring power of attorney' — if you see that phrase in an Ontario document, it is a sign the precedent came from somewhere else.
You can only grant a power of attorney while you have capacity to do so. Once capacity is lost, the document can no longer be made — and the family's only route is a court or tribunal process to have a guardian appointed, which is slower, more expensive and more intrusive.
This is why 'we will sort it out when we need to' fails. By the time the need is obvious, the window has often closed.
A property power of attorney can be effective immediately or on a defined trigger. Each approach has trade-offs, and it is worth choosing deliberately.
The person you appoint is a fiduciary. They must act in your best interests, keep your property separate from theirs, and keep records of what they do with your money.
Choose for reliability and record-keeping, not seniority or birth order. Appointing an alternate matters as much as the first choice.
An attorney for property cannot make a will for you, and cannot change your beneficiary designations. Those remain personal to you.
One covers property and finances, the other covers personal care decisions such as health, housing and safety. Most people should have both.
It is what allows the property document to keep operating after you lose capacity. Without it the document would fail exactly when it is needed.
It depends on whether you still have capacity to grant it. Capacity is assessed for the specific decision, so this is a question to raise early rather than late.
Yes. An attorney for property is a fiduciary and is required to keep accounts of their dealings with your property.
No. An attorney for property cannot make or change a will, and cannot change beneficiary designations.
Government sources for this topic. Rules change — confirm the current position before you rely on it.
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