Power of attorney in Ontario: two documents, two different jobs
When I ask clients whether they have a power of attorney, the answer is often “yes, my wife has it” or “the bank has one on file.” Usually that is only half right. Sometimes it is not right at all.
Ontario law has two separate documents. A continuing power of attorney for property covers your money, your home and your other assets. A power of attorney for personal care covers decisions about your health care, where you live and how you are cared for. They do different jobs, they take effect at different times, and they don’t have to name the same person.
Here is how each one works, and what happens to you and your family if you don’t have them.
First, what a power of attorney is not
A power of attorney lets a person you choose make decisions for you while you are alive. That person is called your “attorney.” They do not need to be a lawyer. Most people choose a spouse, an adult child or a trusted friend.
A power of attorney ends when you die. From that moment your will takes over, and your estate trustee (what most people call the executor) deals with your estate. Your attorney has no authority after your death, even if it is the same person.
So a will does not help you if you are alive but unable to make decisions. And a power of attorney does not help your family after you are gone. You need both.
Power of attorney for property: your money and your assets
A continuing power of attorney for property lets your attorney do almost anything with your property that you could do yourself. The one thing they can never do is make a will for you. In practice that means:
banking, paying bills and dealing with your pension and investments
filing your tax returns and dealing with the CRA
managing, renting, mortgaging or selling your real estate
running your side of a business you own, subject to any shareholder agreement
The word “continuing” matters. The document must say it is continuing, or say that it can be used if you become mentally incapable. Without that wording it is an ordinary power of attorney, and it stops working at the exact moment your family needs it.
It usually takes effect as soon as you sign it. Many people assume it only “switches on” when they lose capacity. Unless the document says otherwise, your attorney can use it right away. You can make it start only on incapacity, but then someone has to prove that incapacity, usually through a formal capacity assessment, and that can cause delay at a bad time. A common approach is to make it effective right away and keep the original somewhere safe until it is needed. Either way, choose someone you trust completely.
Two attorneys must act together unless you say otherwise. If you name two people and say nothing more, both must sign everything. You can let either one act alone. Each approach has trade-offs, and it is worth talking through.
Your attorney has real obligations. They must act honestly and in good faith for your benefit, and they must keep accounts of what they do with your money. They are also entitled to be paid from your property at rates set by regulation, which surprises many families. Your document can set different terms for payment.
You must be at least 18 to sign one, and you must be mentally capable when you sign. That means understanding what you own and roughly what it is worth, your obligations to your dependants, and that your attorney could misuse the power you are giving them.
Power of attorney for personal care: your health and your daily life
A power of attorney for personal care lets your attorney make decisions about your health care, nutrition, housing, clothing, hygiene and safety. In practice that means things like:
consenting to, or refusing, medical treatment
deciding whether you move to a retirement home or long-term care
speaking with your doctors and care team on your behalf
It only applies when you can’t decide for yourself. Unlike the property document, your attorney for personal care has no say while you are able to make the decision in question. It works decision by decision. You might be unable to consent to a complex surgery but still able to choose what to wear.
You can include your wishes. The document can say what you want about life support, resuscitation, pain management or where you want to live. For health care decisions, your attorney must follow wishes you expressed while you were capable, if they apply to the situation. If they don’t apply, your attorney must act in your best interests, taking into account your values and beliefs.
Some people can’t be your attorney. Someone who is paid to provide you with health care, or with residential, social or support services, can’t act as your attorney for personal care unless they are your spouse, partner or a relative. That rules out, for example, a paid caregiver or a staff member at your care home.
You can sign a power of attorney for personal care from age 16. The mental capacity needed is lower than for property: you need to understand whether the person you are choosing genuinely cares about your welfare, and appreciate that you may need them to make decisions for you.
The two documents side by side
What it covers. Property: money, investments, real estate, taxes and business interests. Personal care: health care, housing, nutrition, clothing, hygiene and safety.
When it takes effect. Property: when you sign it, unless the document says otherwise. Personal care: only when you can’t make the decision yourself.
Minimum age to sign. Property: 18. Personal care: 16.
Who can be your attorney. Property: anyone 18 or older you trust. Personal care: anyone 16 or older, except someone paid to care for you who is not family.
When it ends. Both end on your death, or if you revoke it or sign a new one.
Without one. Property: a court application or the Public Guardian and Trustee. Personal care: a default list of family members decides health care.
What happens if you don’t have them
This is where the two documents really differ.
Without a power of attorney for property
Nobody, not even your spouse, has automatic authority over your money or property. A joint bank account can still be used by the other account holder. But anything in your name alone is effectively frozen: your RRSP or RRIF, your own investments, your share of a business.
Real estate is a common trap. If you and your spouse own your home together and you lose capacity, your spouse can’t sell it or refinance it alone. Both owners have to sign.
To fix this, your family has two options:
A capacity assessment. If a capacity assessor finds you incapable of managing property, the Public Guardian and Trustee (a provincial government office) becomes your guardian. A family member can then apply to take over, but must file a plan for managing your property and may have to post security, such as a bond.
A court application. A family member applies to court to be appointed your guardian of property.
Both routes cost money, take time and involve a government office or a judge in your family’s affairs, often during a crisis. A power of attorney for property avoids all of it.
Without a power of attorney for personal care
For health care decisions, Ontario has a default list. If you can’t consent to treatment, the first available and willing person in this order decides for you:
your spouse or partner
your children or parents
a parent who has only a right of access
your brothers and sisters
any other relative
If nobody on the list is available, the Public Guardian and Trustee decides. The Public Guardian and Trustee also decides if people with the same rank disagree, for example three adult children who can’t agree on a treatment.
So the default list often works, but it may not pick the person you would pick. In a blended family, a new spouse ranks ahead of your adult children. A power of attorney for personal care lets you choose, lets you name a back-up, and gives your family your written wishes to rely on.
Choosing your attorneys and signing properly
It doesn’t have to be the same person for both. Some clients name a financially careful child for property and the child who lives closest for personal care. Whoever you choose, name a back-up. If your only attorney dies, becomes incapable or resigns and you haven’t named a substitute, the document stops working.
Signing rules are strict. Each document must be signed in front of two witnesses, who both sign it as witnesses. The following people can’t be witnesses:
your attorney, or your attorney’s spouse or partner
your own spouse or partner
your child, or someone you treat as your child
anyone under 18
anyone who is under guardianship
A power of attorney that isn’t properly witnessed is not effective unless a court declares it effective. You can also sign by video, as long as one of the witnesses is a lawyer or paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.
Common misunderstandings
“My spouse can look after everything.” Not for property in your name alone, and not for a home you own together, without a power of attorney for property.
“The bank already has one on file.” A bank’s own form may only cover your accounts at that bank. It won’t help with your house, your taxes or your other investments.
“It only works if I lose capacity.” The property document usually works as soon as you sign it.
“My executor can handle it.” Your executor has no authority until you die.
“I did mine years ago.” Check that the people you named are still alive, willing and the right choice. Separation doesn’t automatically cancel a power of attorney that names your spouse. If you sign a new one, it generally replaces the old one.
Getting it done
Powers of attorney are usually prepared and signed together with a will. If you have a will but no powers of attorney, or yours were signed many years ago, a short review is worth the time. I work with clients in London, Sarnia and across Southwestern Ontario. Get in touch to set up a meeting.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
This article is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice. Every family’s situation is different. Speak with a lawyer about yours before acting.