Your Roadmap to Peace of Mind: Part 3 – Your Power of Attorney for Personal Care

Shannon Williams
Oct 20, 2025
3 min read

Protecting Your Health and Personal Wishes

Estate planning isn’t just about finances, it’s about protecting your well-being, too.

In the first two parts of our Roadmap to Peace of Mind series, we explored your Will and Power of Attorney for Property. Now, we’ll complete the picture with the third essential document: your Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

What Is a Power of Attorney for Personal Care?

An adult daughter, with brown hair and wearing a white sweater and blue jeans, sits on the edge of a bed holding her elderly father's hand. The father, with white hair and glasses, is covered by a green blanket. They are both smiling gently and looking at each other. The room has a window with light coming through, and a nightstand with a framed photo on it.

A Power of Attorney for Personal Care (POA-PC) is a legal document that allows you to name a trusted person to make decisions about your healthcare, housing, and personal well-being if you become mentally incapable of doing so yourself.

It’s not about money, it’s about life.

Your chosen attorney can make decisions about:

Medical treatment or consent to care
Living arrangements (for example, staying at home with support or moving into long-term care)
Nutrition, hygiene, and overall safety

This document ensures that if you can’t speak for yourself, someone who knows and respects your wishes can speak for you.

Why It Matters

Without a Power of Attorney for Personal Care, the law provides a default list of who can act as your substitute decision-maker, typically starting with your spouse or partner, then your children, and other relatives.

However, this may not always reflect your personal preferences or family dynamics.

Having a POA for Personal Care ensures you decide who will make these important choices, giving you more control and sparing your loved ones from uncertainty.

Choosing the Right Person

Selecting your attorney for personal care is a deeply personal decision. This person should be:

Someone you trust completely to follow your wishes and values
Capable of handling emotional and difficult decisions
Comfortable communicating with doctors, care teams, and family

In Ontario, certain people such as paid caregivers, doctors, or social workers generally cannot act as your attorney unless they are also a family member.

A diverse family of four, including two elderly individuals and two middle-aged women, sits around a circular wooden table in a brightly lit room. They are engaged in conversation, drinking coffee from mugs. On the table, there is a coffee pot, a plate of cookies, an open planner with "FAMILY" written on it, and a pair of glasses. The room has light green walls, a large window, and framed pictures on the wall.

It’s also wise to have open conversations with your chosen attorney about your care preferences while you’re still capable, so they feel confident representing your wishes.

Understanding “Incapacity”

Your Power of Attorney for Personal Care only takes effect if you become mentally incapable of making your own decisions.

Importantly, capacity is not all-or-nothing, you might be capable of making some choices (like what to wear or eat) but not others (like medical treatments).

Your attorney’s authority only covers the decisions you can no longer make on your own.

How It Fits Into Your Complete Plan

Your Power of Attorney for Personal Care works together with your Will and your Power of Attorney for Property to create a complete, protective plan:

Your Will protects your assets and outlines your wishes after you’re gone.
Your POA for Property protects your finances during your lifetime.
Your POA for Personal Care protects your health and personal well-being if you can’t make those decisions yourself.

When these three documents are in place, you can rest easier knowing you’ve covered every stage of life with clarity, care, and confidence.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Creating a Power of Attorney for Personal Care is an act of love and foresight. It ensures that your voice is heard and your values are respected, no matter what the future holds.

Book a free consultation to talk through how these documents work together in your personal plan.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Or, download your complimentary guide, A Brighter Tomorrow: A Practical Guide to Estate Planning, for practical steps to help you protect what matters most.

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