Calgary Estate Lawyers Helping Clients with Enduring Powers of Attorney
Having an Enduring Power of Attorney can be necessary for ensuring your legal needs and financial well-being are protected, should you ever become incapacitated and unable to make decisions on your own.
The highly skilled Estate lawyers at DBH Law have more than 25 years of experience helping our clients understand and plan for their future needs. Our pragmatic and personal approach to our practice ensures we will tailor the solutions you need for your specific needs and circumstances.
Understanding the Responsibility of a Power of Attorney
When appointing an Attorney, it is important for you to select someone you trust, who will not abuse the power and responsibility that comes with such an appointment, and who will keep your best interests in mind at all times.
At DBH Law in Calgary, we build lasting and strong relationships with our clients, providing friendly, personable and professional service. We often find ourselves working alongside our clients as their needs grown and evolve, allowing ourselves to understand how to best help them ensure their personal and financial care when needed, adapting our advice to their needs as they change over time.
Types of Power of Attorney
There are three different types of Powers of Attorney: Enduring Power of Attorney, General Power of Attorney, and Special Power of Attorney.
Enduring Power of Attorney
An Enduring Power of Attorney allows your chosen Attorney to make financial decisions on your behalf when you are no longer capable of making them yourself. Such financial decisions can include paying bills, managing your investment, and even selling your home where needed. The document will outline the scope of the Attorney’s power.
An Enduring Power of Attorney will last until:
- you pass away;
- you revoke it (if you still have mental capacity);
- you recover from mental incapacity to resume decision-making;
- a court determines that you have recovered sufficiently from mental incapacity to resume control of your own decision-making; or
- your Attorney quits or passes away and there is no alternate Attorney.
General Power of Attorney
A General Power of Attorney allows your chosen Attorney to act on your behalf.
It provides the Attorney with broad authority to make financial decisions. Unlike an Enduring Power of Attorney, a General Power of Attorney will not survive where the person granting the Power of Attorney becomes incapacitated.
Special Power of Attorney
A Special Power of Attorney (also known as a Specific Power of Attorney) provides an Attorney with limited decision-making authority over a specific or stand-alone matter or decision, rather than providing them with broad decision-making authority.
It is often used when a person who would otherwise be acting is not available to do so (i.e. they are away on business, on vacation, or otherwise unable to attend to finalize a decision, sign paperwork, etc.)
A Special Power of Attorney can be as limited as you would like it to be. It can be constrained temporally, providing the Attorney with a wide range of powers but only for a specific period of time (e.g. for one week). Alternatively, it can be limited in scope and provide specific boundaries or restrict the types of decisions that an Attorney can make.
Power of Attorney versus Personal Directive
Power of Attorney
The different types of Powers of Attorney allow you to name a family member or someone you trust to make important decisions about your property and financial affairs. This role can have significant authority, with the only limit on its power being that they are unable to make testamentary dispositions on your behalf.
A Power of Attorney is an important tool through which you can ensure that your financial affairs remain in order and are properly taken care of when you are away, sick or injured, or when you are no longer able to do so yourself. It is an important element of an overall Estate Plan.
Personal Directive
A personal directive allows you to appoint a family member or someone you trust to make decisions regarding your health in the event that you are incapable of doing so.
The individual you appoint to make these decisions will be making some of the most serious choices possible on your behalf, including what care you will receive if you fall ill, whether and for how long you will remain on life support, what may happen with your organs, and similar.
Creating a personal directive in advance of becoming ill or incapacitated means your loved ones won’t be left to wonder what you would want to do in medical situations.
Our Power of Attorney Services
At DBH Law we help people create Powers of Attorney and also assist those who have been granted power of attorney.
Over the last 25-plus years we’ve been asked just about every question about powers of attorney and look forward to helping you understand how to appoint one, or what to do if you’ve been appointed.
Strong Relationships and Affordable Costs
We understand the need to keep costs low when working with a lawyer on matters such as an enduring power of attorney. We offer competitive, cost-effective fees, something we are able to do by working one-on-one with our clients, avoiding the high fees associated with having multiple lawyers on a file unless absolutely necessary. We are also careful to take a pragmatic approach to the law, focusing on sensible solutions that speak to our clients’ unique needs and situations.
Call DBH Law to See How We Can Help You Today
The lawyers at DBH Law are responsive and concise, and can provide you with legal guidance on all of your Estate planning needs, including enduring powers of attorney. Contact the experienced estate team at Calgary’s DBH Law to see how we can help you today. We can be reached online or by phone at 403.252.9937.