Living Wills
Power of Attorney, Living Wills Lawyers in Toronto, Ontario
McMaster, McIntyre & Smyth, LLP - living wills lawyers in Toronto, serves clients throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including the communities of regions of Peel, York, Durham, Halton, Etobicoke and surrounding areas.
An experienced lawyer can help you draft a comprehensive estate plan that will ensure your affairs are in order and will be handled according to your wishes. A last will and testament is one key part of your plan. Two other very important aspects are designating durable power of attorney and drafting a living will in case you become disabled, incapacitated or incapable of managing financial, personal care and/or health care decisions yourself.
At McMaster, McIntyre & Smyth, LLP, we advise clients through all aspects of a full estate plan. Our clients include people of all income levels, occupations and backgrounds throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Founded in 1902, our law firm has created the documentation necessary to advise clients with a wide variety of needs and goals through complex and simple estate planning.
Never Too Early to Draft a Living Will and Designate Power of Attorney
If you do not have legal documentation, the court will make decisions for you, and fighting court decisions can be very expensive. Additionally, if you do not designate a specific person (power of attorney) to carry out your wishes, competing interests among family members or beneficiaries can make decisions difficult, possibly leading to court action or the involvement of the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT).
For these reasons, and for many other benefits of thorough estate planning, we advise everyone to have a living will and continuing power of attorney. These documents are an exercise of your freedom of choice.
Power of Attorney
We help you give the person of your choice the ability and the power to manage your property, finances and daily activities, including banking, paying bills, filing tax returns, legal affairs, home care, opening mail, voting on your behalf and other essential duties. You may designate any person you like to act as your agent or attorney-in-fact, giving him or her authority to act on your behalf if you become incapacitated, ill or disabled.
Living Will
This is a power of attorney pertaining to personal care and health care decisions. It is also referred to as an advance directive, detailing how you prefer a variety of possible medical treatments to be administered or not administered if you become incapacitated under physical injury or illness.
A living will informs doctors, family members and the court of your end-of-life decisions. Your designated agent will have the power and the responsibility to make decisions in accordance with your living will.
If you do not have a designated agent, a hierarchy of your next of kin will make decisions about your personal care. The second person in the hierarchy will make decisions if the primary person is not available.
We can guide you through the decisions that will be best for your unique estate plan.
Contact Power of Attorney Lawyer