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Wills & Personal Planning Documents
We offer services to assist our clients with drafting and preparing their Will, as well as personal planning documents including Power of Attorney, Representation Agreement and Advance Directive.
Will
A Will is a legal document in which a capable person explains and directs what the he/she wants done with his/her “Estate” when he/she dies. A will-maker can change his/her Will at any time. A Will has no legal effect until the will-maker dies.
A will-maker's estate consists of property that the will-maker owns at the time of his/her death. The estate does not include any property that the will-maker owns jointly with another person(s) that has a “right of survivorship” (e.g., joint bank accounts, land held in joint tenancy, etc.), unless the joint tenancy was used for estate planning purposes only and the joint tenant is serving only as a trustee for the estate. Also, a Will does not apply to life insurance policies, RRSP’s, RRIF’s, tax-free saving accounts, pension plans, and segregated funds that the will-maker has already designated a specific beneficiary.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is a legal document in which a capable adult appoints a trusted person (called an attorney) to make financial and legal decisions on the adult's behalf.
An Enduring Power of Attorney allows a capable adult to authorize a trusted person (called an attorney) to make decisions in relation to the adult's financial and legal affairs. The attorney named in an Enduring Power of Attorney is authorized to act when the adult becomes mentally incapable, or to continue to act when the adult remains incapable.
A capable adult can also draw a General Power of Attorney, or a Specific Power of Attorney, which is intended for a specific task or transaction.
Attorneys may not make health care treatment decisions.
Representation Agreement
A Representation Agreement (RA) is a legal document in which a capable adult names a trusted person (called a representative) to make health care and "personal" decisions on the adult's behalf when the adult becomes incapable. There are two types of Representation Agreement:
- Standard (Section 7) RA: Adult may authorize a representative to make decisions about the routine management of financial affairs, personal care and some health care decisions on the adult's behalf, excluding decisions about the refusal of life support and/or life-prolonging medical interventions.
- Enhanced (Section 9) RA: Adult may authorize a representative to make personal care and health care decisions on the adult's behalf, including decisions about the acceptance or refusal of life support and life-prolonging medical interventions.
If a person does not have a Representation Agreement, the default short term substitute decision makers are: spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, anyone related by birth or adoption, close friends, or others related by marriage.
Advance Directive
An Advance Directive is a legal document in which a capable person sets out his/her wishes regarding future health care treatments, including life support or life-prolonging medical interventions. It is written instructions that speak directly to health care provider about health care treatment the adult consents to, or refuses. It is effective when the capable person becomes incapable and only applies to the health care conditions and treatments noted in the advance directive.