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Here you can find general information regarding some of our areas of practice......every one is different, so it is always best to get advice ensuring that all of your circumstances have been considered...
Is it a Good Idea?
- It is a very powerful document. It can be used to deal with all your assets. While you might trust the person you give it to, you must accept the risk that you are giving them the power to do something that is not in your best interests (such as steal your money or mortgage your home) or even if in your best interest, not what you want to happen (such as sell your home when they consider you are not able to live in it anymore).
- All lawyers are conscious of a case where the lawyer prepared a power of attorney for an elderly lady in favour of her daughter Unknown to the lawyer or the mother, the daughter had a gambling problem and mortgaged the mother's house to raise money to pay gambling debts. The first the mother knew was when the bank told her they were going to sell the property under the power given in the mortgage. The lady sued the lawyer claiming he didn't explain the daughter could do that. He probably didn’t state clearly that 'your daughter could mortgage your house and take the money' thinking it was an offensive thing to suggest to a mother about her daughter but it shows that you can't presume anything or anyone.
- You can restrict its power by conditions such as "This Power does not authorise the sale or mortgage of my house at 10 Smith St." or some similar restriction. The problem is that it may become necessary for your attorney to sell or mortgage your house to pay for entry into a nursing home or some other need that may not be anticipated. Without a crystal ball is hard to know what restrictions should or should not be imposed.
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