Life is full of surprises. Have you thought about what happens if one day you are unable to make decisions regarding your financial, personal and health affairs? Luckily, in BC, there are several personal planning tools that are available to you.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is a document that appoints another person, called an “Attorney”, to make financial and legal decisions for you. This might include paying bills, depositing or withdrawing money from your bank account, investing your money or selling your house. It is a useful tool for managing your finances when you are temporarily or permanently unable to do so. However, a Power of Attorney can’t be used to help you decide health care related matters.The scope of a Power of Attorney can be very specific such as granting your Attorney power to deal with a specific task (i.e. power to buy or sell a piece of property within a specified period of time). It can also be very general, giving your Attorney the power to do anything that you could do on your own.
Representation Agreement
A Representation Agreement is a document that allows your appointed representative to make personal and health care decisions for you in the event that you become incapable. The scope of authority that the representative has can be set out in the agreement. It can range from managing your routine financial, health, and personal care decisions to making end-of-life health care decisions such as consent to life-support treatment and to less common medical procedures.Advanced Directive
An Advanced Directive is a document that contains written instructions to doctors, nurses, or health-care providers. It expresses your consents or refusals to specific medical interventions should you become incapable. Contrary to a Representation Agreement, an Advance Directive does not appoint a representative to act on your behalf.See our FAQ page for frequently asked questions and answers.
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