Margaret Hall, founding director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies at the British Columbia Law Institute and assistant professor in the faculty of law at the University of British Columbia, notes there are two general types of power-of-attorney agreements.

A regular, or general, POA is the authority your client gives someone to manage his or her affairs for a short time, such as on leaving the country for business or extended travel.

“This type of POA assumes the donor is around somewhere to oversee things,” she says. “It therefore becomes void if that person becomes mentally incapacitated. An order of incapacity will revoke this type of POA.”

An enduring, or continuing, POA, on the other hand, is meant to be used when your client is no longer mentally capable of managing his or her affairs.

—ROSEMARY MCCRACKEN