POWERS OF ATTORNEY:
WHO’S GOT YOUR BACK?
– By Suzanne Soto-Davies
®
®
Léony deGraaf Hastings, CFP, EPC
Certified Financial Planner
Retirement & Estate Specialist
Your Financial Future
Deserves a Financial Plan
D uring the good ol’ days of sword fighting, two soldiers
would stand back-to-back during battle to stop any enemy
from sneaking up behind them. They had each others’ backs.
I’m not a lawyer, nor am I a financial planner, but I do know
a thing or two about POA’s. We had to go through this with
my mother, when she had an accident in 2012. The POA’s
for both care and property were severely outdated, and we
had a very difficult time helping her.
At the time, my mother had decided that she wanted to
have all three of us listed as her attorneys for care; in case of a
future emergency, we would ALL have to decide how to best
care for her. This was her decision, and it probably wouldn’t
be that of others.
There are some big issues with deciding who’s got your back,
or who can best look after you and respect your wishes. The
Attorney General’s office (who provides the POA forms free
of charge), states that one of the biggest issues by naming
more than one person as your POA, is that they will not agree
when conformity is needed most. So you have to ask yourself
very carefully: Who’s got my back?
Being pressured into adding a particular person as your POA
can be detrimental for your future, as the Attorney General’s
information states:
“Be very careful signing a power of attorney for property,
because unless you specify otherwise, the person you name can
start making decisions immediately. You may want to include
a statement in your Power of Attorney that says the attorney
can only make decisions if you become mentally incapable.”
This is scary stuff, yet it needs to be done. You can take your
time to really think through “who’s got your back,” but please
have your POAs prepared
and updated.•
The forms, complete
with instructions, can be
downloaded HERE (click)
for free, or ordered by
calling Service Ontario at:
1-800-267-8097
B OOK YOUR C OMPLIMENTARY R EVIEW A PPT NOW !
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