At Willful our goal is to ensure our users have the most up-to-date legal information about wills and estates in their province, and we have an important update to share about legislative changes in New Brunswick. On July 1st, 2020, the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act comes into effect in New Brunswick. This new Act changes the requirements for creating Power of Attorney documents in New Brunswick. Here we’ll explain what changes this Act brings.
What Are The Changes?
New Titles
- The personal care POA has changed titles from Advance Health Care Directive to Power of Attorney for Personal Care.
- You can choose to create an Advance Health Care Directive to accompany your Power of Attorney for Personal Care - instead of acting as a document that appoints someone to make medical decisions for you, it will now simply be a list of additional instructions that accompanies your POA for Personal Care
- The name for the person acting as your Power of Attorney has changed from proxy to attorney.
New Roles
- Previously, only a doctor could determine and assess your capacity - now you can appoint a person(s) to determine and assess your capacity (for example, a family member or friend).
- You can now appoint a monitor to check in on your attorney to ensure they’re doing their job.
New Requirements
- The new act provides additional guidance on who cannot be your attorney. This includes:
- People who provide you with healthcare services
- Someone who has been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty
- A person who has had an undischarged bankruptcy
- Most importantly, signing requirements have changed. You now must have a lawyer sign your Enduring Power of Attorney for Property document and provide a written statement that they witnessed you sign it. Your Power of Attorney for Personal Care does not need to signed/witnessed by a lawyer
What Makes POAs Legally-Valid Under The New Act:
Under the new legislation, a Power of Attorney for Property is valid if:
- The grantor has capacity
- It’s in writing and is signed and dated by the grantor
- It’s signed and dated in the presence of a lawyer and includes a written statement from a lawyer
Under the new legislation, a Power of Attorney for Personal Care is valid if:
- The grantor has capacity
- It’s in writing and is signed and dated by the grantor and witnessed by 2 people OR signed by a lawyer
- Created by an adult 19 of age or older
- Any Power of Attorney document signed and witnessed before July 1st, 2020, will be grandfathered in, and will remain legally-valid.
For a closer look at how you can make your power of attorney documents today, check out our New Brunswick guide →
