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→Why have a power of attorney?
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| image = [[File:Headshot_-_Power_of_Attorney_-_Helga_-_2017-03-16.jpg |link=]]
| text = "I want to spend the summer visiting my grandchildren in France. I'll be gone for several months, and I'd like to enable my niece to pay my bills while I'm away. I learned I can do that by making a limited power of attorney. In it, I authorized my niece to access my bank account only to deposit my pension cheques and pay my bills, and only until I come home from my trip." <br>- Helga, Victoria
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| image = [[File:Headshot_-_Power_of_Attorney_-_Anita_-_2017-03-16.jpg |link=]]
| text = "My husband William had an accident at work. He is in hospital in a coma. We have a joint bank account, so I can pay the bills. But our car is in William’s name and the insurance is due. William can’t sign. I wish William had made an enduring power of attorney appointing me as attorney. That way I could renew the insurance." <br>- Anita, Burnaby
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Another reason you might make a power of attorney is to prepare for the possibility you become mentally incapable due to age, accident or illness. With an '''enduring power of attorney''', you can appoint someone to act on your behalf for financial and legal affairs, and specify that the appointment continues in effect - or endures - if you become incapable of making decisions. (With a '''general power of attorney''', the appointment ends when you become mentally incapable.)
For more on enduring powers of attorney, see the section "[[Enduring Power of Attorney|'''enduring power of attorney''']]".
A power of attorney can also be set up to come into effect only when something happens to trigger it. This is called a '''springing power of attorney'''. You can appoint someone to act on your behalf if the triggering event happens. The triggering event can be when you become mentally incapable. For example, the appointment can be worded to come into effect “when two physicians have determined that I am no longer capable of managing my affairs”. Such a springing power of attorney is not active '''until''' you are incapable.