Approaches to Drafting Powers of Attorney?is Boilerplate Enough?

• Author: Margaret R. O'Sullivan
• Pages: 401-415



ApproachestoDraingPowersof

AorneyisBoilerplateEnough

MargaretROSullivan*

 

The titleto this paperis meantto be provocativeItsu nderlyingmes-

sageistheassumptionthatpowersofaorneyaretoooentreateda nd

preparedassimpleroutinedocumentsoenusingoratleastprimarily

basedonstandardizedformsmadeavailablebylegalpublishers

Itisthiswr itersviewthatthisistoo oenthecaseinOnta riolegal

practiceWith nowover een yearsof experience witht heSubstitute

Decisions ActS DAthebarshouldberaisedandtheplanningpro-

cessforp owersofaorneyneeds tobecomemore focusedand sophis-

ticatedStandardized formswhichdo notdealwithcomplicatedis sues

such asappointment of alternatea ndsuccessor aorneysmet hodsof

decision making formulas for compensation liabi lity and individual

wishes anddir ectionson specic issues arenot adequateto meet our

clientsne edsFastforward ingten twentythirt yand moreyears the

issueishowshouldwebedesigninganddraingpowersofaorneyto

meettheneedsofthedemographicshithatwillseedramaticallylarger

percentagesofthepopulationlivi nglongerandforextendedperiodsof

timei nvariousstagesofincapacity Whatthe professionhas donefor

approximatelythelasttwentyorthirtyyearswillsimplynotmeetthose

needsmuchlessbestservethem

 PrincipalOSul livanEstateLawyersProfessiona lCorporation

 SOcSDA].