Estate planning · Powers of attorney
A power of attorney is a written authorisation under BC law that lets someone you choose handle your financial and legal matters on your behalf — while you are away, while you are busy, or later if you lose the capacity to manage them yourself. It is one of the most useful documents most adults can sign.
How it works
A POA is signed while you have full mental capacity. The signing itself does not transfer anything — you keep complete authority over your own affairs. What the POA does is grant your attorney concurrent authority to act on your behalf, immediately, while you also retain that authority.
That dual-authority structure is what makes the POA useful in everyday life. You can ask your attorney to handle a banking matter while you are on vacation, sign a real estate document while you are out of the country, or pay bills during a long illness. None of this means you are incapable; it just means you have appointed someone to help.
The other thing the POA does — and the more important thing for many clients — is provide for the future. An enduring POA continues to operate if you later lose capacity. Without an enduring POA, no one has automatic authority to manage your affairs if you become incapable; the alternative is a court application by a family member to be appointed as committee under the Patients Property Act, which is slower, more expensive, and more public.
POA versus representation agreement
BC's incapacity-planning regime splits the work between two documents:
Power of attorney — covers financial and legal matters. Banking, real estate, contracts, taxes, business decisions. Governed by the Power of Attorney Act.
Representation agreement — covers personal and health-care matters. Consenting to or refusing medical treatment, deciding where you live, day-to-day care arrangements. Governed by the Representation Agreement Act.
Most clients want both, signed at the same appointment. The attorney and the representative are often the same person, but do not have to be — some people choose a financially-savvy family member as attorney and a different family member (or close friend, or doctor) as representative.
Frequently asked
A power of attorney (POA) is a written document under BC's Power of Attorney Act in which one person (the donor) appoints another person (the attorney) to act on their behalf in financial and legal matters. The attorney can sign documents, deal with banks, manage property, file tax returns, and otherwise handle the donor's affairs to the extent set out in the document. The donor signs the POA while they have full mental capacity; the attorney's authority can be effective immediately, on a defined event, or only on the donor's incapacity.
It depends on what the document says. A general POA can be effective the moment it is signed — letting the attorney act on the donor's behalf while the donor is, for example, on vacation, busy, or simply prefers not to handle a particular matter. An enduring POA continues to operate even if the donor later loses capacity. A springing POA does not take effect until a defined trigger (often a doctor's certification of incapacity). Most clients in BC sign an enduring POA that is effective immediately and continues through any future incapacity.
No. Signing a POA does not affect your ability to manage your own affairs. You retain full authority to make your own decisions; the POA simply gives the attorney concurrent authority to act on your behalf. You can revoke the POA at any time as long as you have capacity. The POA only becomes the primary mechanism for managing your affairs if you later lose capacity.
A power of attorney covers financial and legal matters. A representation agreement, under BC's Representation Agreement Act, covers personal and health-care matters — consenting to medical treatment, deciding on living arrangements, and similar decisions. Most BC clients sign both at the same time: a power of attorney for the money side, a representation agreement for the personal-care side. They appoint the attorney and the representative to similar people in many cases, but they do not have to.
Only if the POA specifically authorises it, and only within limits set by the Power of Attorney Act. The general rule is that an attorney cannot benefit themselves or others through gifts unless the donor expressly authorised it in the document, and even then the gifts must be reasonable in light of the donor's circumstances. We typically include limited gifting provisions in a POA — for example, allowing the attorney to continue charitable giving or seasonal family gifts the donor was already making — but a POA is not a vehicle for transferring wealth out of the estate.
It ends. The attorney's authority terminates on the donor's death. From that point, the executor named in the will (or, if there is no will, the administrator appointed by the court) takes over the estate. There is no overlap; the POA does not extend into the executor's role.
Someone you trust completely, who is capable of handling financial decisions, who understands your wishes, and who is likely to outlive you (or to be available when needed). Common choices: a spouse, an adult child, a sibling, a long-time friend. Many clients name an alternate in case the first choice is unable or unwilling to act. Naming co-attorneys (two people who must act jointly) is also possible but adds the risk of deadlock.
Most clients sign a POA, a representation agreement, and a will at a single appointment. Tell us who you want to appoint and we'll send the draft for review.