3. Sign the revocation or new Power of Attorney

You must sign:

• the Notice of Revocation, which is a document that says you cancel your Power of Attorney, or
• your new Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

You must sign in front of 2 witnesses. The witnesses must also sign the document. And all 3 of you have to be together for the whole process.

In March 2021, the law changed so that Powers of Attorney can be commissioned and witnessed virtually or remotely.

This means that people can have their Power of Attorney commissioned and witnessed in person with everyone in the same room or remotely using audio-visual technology. This includes Skype, Zoom, Webex, and FaceTime.

The law firm Hull & Hull has a checklist for signing a Power of Attorney that can help you follow the rules about using audio-visual technology, for example:

• You and your 2 witnesses must be able to see, hear, and speak to each other at the same time.
• One of the witnesses must be a lawyer or paralegal, who's licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.
• Everyone must sign an identical copy of the document at the same time.

Your Power of Attorney is made up of all these copies.

Who can be a witness

The witnesses can be anyone except:

• your spouse or partner, child, or someone you treat as your child, such as a stepchild you have not adopted but who you support
• your attorney or your attorney's spouse or partner
• someone under the age of 18