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→C. Advance Planning Documents
An adult who has mental capacity can execute various documents to appoint another person to make financial and health care decisions on his or her behalf. These documents may come into effect immediately, or only when certain events come to pass (e.g. upon loss of capacity), as follows:
*'''Power of Attorney (POA):''' an adult (called the ‘adult’ in the legislation) with capacity may choose to appoint another person (called the Attorney) to act on his or her behalf, only in matters concerning financial affairs (e.g. property, finance, banking, business, etc).
*'''Representation Agreement (RA):''' an adult with the requisite mental capacity may choose to appoint another person (called a Representative) to act as a substitute decision-maker or as a supportive decision-maker to act on his or her behalf for both s 7 and s 9 RAs (For differences between s 7 and s 9 RAs see Section [[Representation Agreements (15:V)#A. Types of Representation Agreements | section V.A: Types of Representation Agreements]]).
*'''Advance Directive (AD):''' an adult with capacity may choose to give or refuse consent to health care or give health care instructions in an AD, which will only come into effect when the adult is incapable and in need of health care.
In BC, various laws define what is required to validly execute each of these documents, the duties and powers held by the appropriate substitute decision-maker(s), and the legal authority or scope of decisions made.