"Love all. Trust a few." -Shakespeare

'Ready hire...ready hire...' This is absolutely not the best advice.

Better advice may be: ' Take aim..take very careful aim...ready...take very, very careful aim...ready...are you certain?...take careful aim...now hire...'

If you are calling upon your legal council to prepare documentation AND act in a Power of Attorney capacity you are well advised to call for a second independent opinion before you sign the agreement.

It is so much easier to have the right Power of Attorney than it is to have one you are unable to trust on an ongoing basis. Once the mechanisms are triggered to start the arrangement any complications can be very difficult or become so...way too fast.
Have you ever tried to 'un-ring a bell' ?

When we understand that a Power of Attorney has the ability to represent your interests in virtually every situation that is legally binding under law...can't stand in to marry you off or write your will...and a Power of Attorney may have certain restrictions as set out within the agreement.

Some Power of Attorney agreements may have time constraints or a defined purpose but the reality is...' an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'.

It usually makes the most sense to have your Power of Attorney as some one that is near by, readily available and of course...deserving of your trust. This responsibility could last for years, it might even outlive your original arrangement. It is always wise to consider a backup and a backup for the backup and so on. The street runs both ways. Your Power of Attorney (there could be more than one by the way) has the option to resign as well. So please 'be prepared'!

If you have not selected a Power of Attorney and the courts are called upon to do so there is always a greater possibility that your wishes will not be represented the way you want them or would have wanted them if you were still giving the direction.

Who needs a Power of Attorney?

Pick two words: I do! You do! We do!

Generally we may think: 'I'll set that up when and if I need it.' Sadly, that can be too late!

There are vastly more reasons to be proactive in this matter than I could possibly suggest here. Take a look at a few examples and that may give a clearer idea.

Doug was injured in an industrial accident. No one knows exactly what happened with the possible exception of Doug. He is in a coma and we may never know the answer. Betty is at home looking after their three children and is coping. When the initial shock wears off, the reality of paying the bills and looking after day to day life becomes apparent. Doug is in a facility located 4 hours away and Betty feels that she can keep things together by selling the family home and moving to an apartment that is closer to Doug. When she tries to list the property she discovers that she is not legally permitted to do so. The couple own the property jointly. When she sees her lawyer she explains that she has authority...'it's in Doug's will'. Poor Doug is not dead...he is in a coma and very much alive. Betty needs to have a Power of Attorney for the property transaction. It will have to go through the courts to become legal. She'll be able to this but it will cause stressful and expensive delays.
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Jim and Anne had been married for 27 years. They had three wonderful children. Bob is in pre-Law and Lisa is studying to be an Dentist and Andrew an adult with a disability, lives at home Two days after her 50th birthday Anne collapsed on the front lawn. She had a brain anurism. Anne was taken to a hospital and the prognosis was not good. Jim and Anne had discussed the generalities of this situation when her Mother had a stroke several years earlier so Doug had a clear understanding of Anne's wishes should she be the victim of a similar tragedy. Nonetheless Anne didn't have a Medical Directive or Living Will nor a Power of Attorney for Personal Care nor an Enduring Power of Attorney. Under the circumstances an Enduring Power of Attorney would generally have been required. The situation demanded that the courts be approached to help resolve the legalities. This to took time...all the while Anne's condition deteriorated. The family suffered a great deal of unnecessary stress and Anne suffered needlessly.
As an alternate outcome let's consider her needs if Anne had survived this tragedy and made partial recovery. This would potentially have implied a need for Power of Attorney for Personal Care and one for Finances or a General Power of Attorney.
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Aunt Maude and Uncle Charlie were married for 57 years when Maude passed away after a brief illness. After a few weeks on his own Charlie found himself feeling helpless, Maude had always done the 'paperwork' while Charlie had been the principal money earner. At 82, Charlie had never paid a bill or cooked a meal or sewn a button on. Luckily Charlie oldest son was more than willing to take on the task and he arranged with Charlie to be set up as Power of Attorney. Unfortunately Art didn't have a clear idea of his responsibilities and over the course of the following 17 months Art made some serious and ultimately 'unwise' choices in managing his Dad's assets. Fortunately Charlie's Brother in Law was visiting one day and got a feeling that all was not right and asked Charlie's other two boys to come down for a visit and check things out. It didn't take long for the boys to discover the problems and with a bit of 'encouragement' they were able to arrange for another Trusted friend to take over from Art.
Art was a great guy but this responsibility was beyond his competence levels. Charlie was naive about such matters and 'slowing down' a bit so he wasn't readily aware of what was happening.
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Amber was always so organized. She had everything in order and everything arranged. She knew just who would get her favorite Book of Poems, her favorite tea cups, her jewelry, her 'good' dishes, her hooked rugs, her prized stamp collection and her library filled with books. As a matter of fact she had labels on virtually everything. The only things Amber hadn't done yet were her Will and Power of Attorney designations. As it happened, Amber had a stroke and had to be placed into an institution while she recovered. The courts appointed a Guardian for Amber and the short version of the story....virtually nothing was done according to Amber's wishes. She made a slow physical recovery but she was never the same. Her treasured dreams became someone else's reality. If only she hadn't kept putting off those important details...everything could have been different!
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Each province has it's own legislation as it relates to Power of Attorney. Ultimately legal council will be required.

Incapacity may be short term or long term or some time in between. Incapacity doesn't follow a set schedule so it is in the interest of each of us to do what needs to be done now...before we become tomorrows news.