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PLANNED GIVING
The Loving Act of Being an Attorney
38
PRESBYTERIAN
SUMMER 2021
presbyterian.ca
By Jim MacDonald,
Stewardship and Planned Giving
One of the saddest days I can re- member is the day I had to remove the photos of our children from my mother-in-law Margaret’s room at the nursing home because she became distressed, believing the grandchil- dren in the photos were somehow present in the room with her and she couldn’t understand how to take care of them.
Margaret was a very special wom- an. In the early years, after Linda and I were first married, Margaret and her husband, Adam, had been very supportive of us, even though our wanderlust often had us living in far- flung places. After Adam died, Mar- garet began to experience the early signs of dementia and her doctors recommended that she prepare for a day when she couldn’t take care of herself. At the time, we were living in New Brunswick, while Margaret was
living independently in an apartment in Ontario; so Linda flew in to help Margaret get her affairs in order.
They began by going to see Mar- garet’s lawyer, where they updated the will she had drawn up with her late husband. Once Margaret con- firmed the decisions about how she wanted her estate distributed, includ- ing a gift to her home congregation, the will was signed.
Then the lawyer also presented Margaret and Linda with “an endur- ing or continuing power of attorney” document. Although you may have heard the word attorney used syn- onymously with the word lawyer on American television shows, that’s not what it means in Canada. In Canada, an attorney is a person ap- pointed to represent another, or to act in her place and doesn’t need to be a lawyer. Even though your attorney can make decisions for you, there are boundaries they have to abide by. They cannot make or change your
last will and testament, change the beneficiaries of your life insurance plan, or transfer your power of at- torney to someone else. The lawyer made a special point of explaining that Margaret could continue to make her own decisions, as long as she remained mentally capable.
Once Margaret and Linda signed the Power of Attorney for Property document, Margaret’s lawyer provid- ed them with a health-care directive called a “Power of Attorney for Per- sonal Care.” Some provinces consid- er a power of attorney for property to be valid for health-care decisions—if it complies with the laws of the prov- ince where it was signed. However, other provinces, like Ontario, require a specific health-care directive to al- low representatives to make health- care decisions on your behalf. In later years, the Power of Attorney for Personal Care allowed Linda to make important decisions about Marga- ret’s care.
As their meeting came to an end, the lawyer then informed Linda that signing these documents wasn’t the end of the process! Now Linda had to accompany Margaret to Margaret’s bank with signed copies of the Power of Attorney.
Going to the bank was not some- thing that Linda wanted to do but the lawyer insisted that it had to be done while Linda was in town and while Margaret could understand how and why they were changing her bank accounts. Linda had to be present to fully explain the situation and to com- plete the documents that gave her
joint access to Margaret’s accounts. So Linda and Margaret grabbed a taxi to Margaret’s bank, where the bank representative asked many of the same questions that the lawyer had asked. “Are you sure you want to do this?” was the gist of the ques- tions, as he wanted to make sure that Margaret was in complete agreement with giving her daughter joint access to her bank accounts. The bank was doing their due diligence by ensuring that no pressure was being applied to
Margaret.
The bank wasn’t the only stop they
made that day with the powers of at- torney documents. It took a full after- noon of taxiing about Kitchener to get it all done. They visited Margaret’s family physician, her geriatrician, her insurance agent and her invest- ment adviser. They took so many cab rides, at one point the dispatcher asked, “Linda, is that you?!”
Linda and I have always thanked God that she was able to take the time off work and fly to see Margaret on that day, as her mental capacity deteriorated quickly after the visit. If Linda had missed that window of op- portunity, it would have been much more difficult to help Margaret. In- stead, Linda had the ability to make financial and property decisions for Margaret when it was needed.
Over time, it became necessary for Margaret to move to New Brun- swick to live with us. Inevitably, she needed full-time monitoring available in a nursing home near our home. We were very lucky that the Power of At- torney for Health Care that had been
signed in Ontario was also accepted in New Brunswick. That would not have been the case in some other provinces. If you think that your loved one might inevitably have to move near you, make sure you get the proper health-care directive for the province where you live.
Psalm 112:6a and 9a tell us that, “Those who do what is right will al- ways be secure... They have spread their gifts around to poor people, their good works continue forever.” As stewards of God’s gifts, we are wise to prepare for our final years by preparing a will and power of attorney documents. While power of attorney documents can ensure the people who know you the best are making decisions for you, mak- ing your will is one of the moments in life when you can integrate your hear tfelt connections to your family and friends with your faith, priori- ties and values. With careful prayer and consideration, a well-designed will can provide for your family and friends and leave a legacy gift to a church or charity that is impor tant to your heart. Not only can a legacy gift help lower the taxes paid by your estate, it is the time you can most afford to give.
The time to prepare these impor- tant documents is when you are healthy. If you’ve been procrastinat- ing, resolve now to prepare your will and powers-of-attorney documents and make an appointment with a lawyer to complete the task.
For more information on powers of attorney, visit presbyterian.ca/wills.
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