4. Decide if you want to take on the role

You need to decide if you want to be the person's attorney for personal care. Ideally, they'll ask you first and give you a chance to say yes or no.

But even if the person puts your name in their Power of Attorney without asking, you can decide that you cannot do it.

If you don’t want to be an attorney and the person is mentally capable

If the person is still mentally capable of making a Power of Attorney, you can ask them to:

  • or cancel the existing one, and
  • name someone else as their attorney.

If you don’t want to be an attorney and the person is not mentally capable

If the person is not mentally capable of making a new Power of Attorney, you can resign. If they have named more than one attorney or a substitute attorney, the continues to be in effect with the other attorney acting.

If you were the only attorney named, a family member or some other person must apply to be the court to become the person's .

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