Reader feedback prompted this follow-up to last week香蕉视频直播檚 column. Feedback included a complaint to my editor! I was accused of giving inaccurate information and poor advice.
No hard feelings, Bert (not his real name). I know you meant well. And thank you for clearly articulating your concerns which I will address.
Those following this column might remember the one published March 31st, 2024, about conflicts of interest. It addressed an elephant in the room when considering the advice of a lawyer columnist: I am not just a columnist, I am also a lawyer running a law firm.
I could choose to use my column in a self-interested way, persuading readers that particular legal services are necessary even if they are not.
I genuinely intend to provide helpful legal opinions and information. I get a kick out of helping people, which I believe is a universal human trait. I do my best to be vigilant not to allow self-interest to get in the way.
Maybe I was too vigilant with last week香蕉视频直播檚 column.
I provided a cost-benefit analysis that pointed against a young person incurring the expense of a power of attorney.
An easy sales pitch for a power of attorney is that it香蕉视频直播檚 a choice between paying a small amount now or leaving it to your loved ones to pay a whole lot more later.
If you lose your cognitive capacity without having appointed someone to look after your financial affairs, your loved ones will need to go through an expensive court process to have a committee appointed. Until that happens, your bank and investment accounts will be inaccessible as well as title to your home.
I ran the numbers and concluded that a financial analysis favours a young person waiting until later in life (their 50s) when they香蕉视频直播檙e going to appoint new attorneys anyway (likely their children). The odds of losing your cognitive capacity before your 50s are very, very low.
But, as my readers pointed out, it does happen. And not just by age related dementia.
A head injury, stroke or other extreme medical event can occur at any time, leaving you with a prolonged or permanent loss of cognitive capacity.
If you香蕉视频直播檝e not made a power of attorney appointing someone to look after your financial affairs, your loved ones will have to come up with the $10-15,000.00 to have a committee appointed in the context of an incredibly high stress situation and while facing the loss of your income stream.
Maybe the cost of a power of attorney should be looked at like the cost of insurance.
Insurance never passes a financial cost-benefit analysis. The insurance company makes a profit which gets worked into the premiums.
But we still pony up premiums for house, car, life, disability and health insurance.
And the benefit side of the ledger should go beyond a strictly financial analysis.
I had briefly pointed out the convenience aspect of a power of attorney, noting that if you develop mobility issues your appointed attorney can attend bank and legal appointments for you.
Bert asserted that it can go beyond convenience and become a necessity issue if you香蕉视频直播檙e out of the country when time sensitive documents must be signed such as real estate conveyancing documents. Planning ahead should eliminate that contingency, but I have your point.
I had also briefly shared a fraud protection benefit which Bert asked me to explain.
Fraud artists are very good at what they do. I香蕉视频直播檝e recently been consulted by an incredibly intelligent person (I香蕉视频直播檒l refer to her as Cathy) who was duped out of 10s of thousands of dollars believing she was helping investigate bad actors in her bank.
Cathy and her adult children met with her bank representatives to figure out how the fraud was allowed to happen and how to help prevent it in the future.
The fraud artists had given Cathy plausible explanations to pass on to bank representatives so they wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 suspect foul play when investments were cashed in. There were no red flags from the bank香蕉视频直播檚 perspective.
The bank suggested Cathy making a power of attorney, appointing her children, to help protect against a future fraud event.
Armed with the power of attorney, the children can monitor the accounts.
Had a power of attorney been in place, the children would have immediately known something was up and been able to step in to stop the fraud in its tracks.
I am prepared to agree with the two readers who had reached out to me (and my editor) with passionate pleas that I had undersold a power of attorney.
One concluded his comments saying that the cost of a power of attorney may be the best money you ever spend. The other suggested that any person who cares about their family should get a power of attorney.
I stand corrected!
I will conclude with a warning that not all powers of attorney are the same.
They can be as simple as a one-page form or be quite extensive.
Next week I plan on explaining why you might want more than the simple one-page form.
Paul Hergott
You are encouraged to contact Paul directly at paul@hlaw.ca with legal questions and issues you would like him to write about.
