What is Power of Attorney | Why it is Essential Part of your Estate Plan

What is a Power of Attorney?

A power of attorney is a legal document that grants power to somebody else to make decisions for you on a financial and legal basis so they can manage your bank account, your investments, real estate that you might own and make other important legal decisions. This is a document that needs to be prepared by a lawyer and it's an essential part of an estate plan.

So what happens if you don't have a power of attorney?

If you don't have a power of attorney then in the event that you become incapable of physically or mentally managing your affairs, then nobody will be able to make those decisions on your behalf.

What Happens If You Die Without a Will? | 3 Important Things You Need to Know

3 important things you to know about the importance of having a Will.

1) Common Scenarios

- The first thing to know about dying without a will is that the distribution of your estate is, of course, going to be very unclear. The default rules of the Wills Estates and Succession Acts are going to apply and so I'm going to cover off some of the common scenarios here.

Estate Planning during a Pandemic - is it possible?

Estate Planning During a Pandemic

The impact of COVID-19 is being felt around the globe, bringing dramatic changes to our daily lives. The pandemic has also brought to light the importance of creating an estate plan or updating an existing one. This may not be something that many people wish to consider but it is critical to have your affairs in order, especially during unpredictable times such as these. An estate plan typically includes a will, power of attorney and a representation agreement. Although provinces in Canada have different requirements for these documents, a common feature is having signed the document in the presence of two witnesses who also sign the document. Typically done through in-person meetings with a lawyer, it has been made very difficult due to social distancing and quarantining.

Estate Planning | 3 Most Common Planning Documents

In this video, we cover the execution or signing requirements for the 3 most common legal documents that you need to be aware of in order to effectively create your estate plan.

What are the 3 most common legal documents?

1) A Will

2) Power of Attorney

3) Representation Agreement