{"id":55214,"date":"2023-08-29T12:35:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T16:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/?post_type=publications-page&#038;p=55214"},"modified":"2026-03-03T12:16:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:16:56","slug":"should-i-make-a-power-of-attorney","status":"publish","type":"publications-page","link":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/should-i-make-a-power-of-attorney","title":{"rendered":"Should I make a Power of Attorney for Personal Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you&#8217;re no longer capable of making decisions about your health or personal care, someone must make them for you. This is your substitute decision-maker (SDM).<\/p>\n<p>If you have a Power of Attorney for Personal Care, your <strong>attorney<\/strong> is your SDM, unless a court chooses someone else.<\/p>\n<h2>Decisions about personal care<\/h2>\n<p>Usually, your attorney decides if you&#8217;re mentally capable to make decisions about your personal care. This is true unless you say something else in your power of attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Decisions about personal care include where you live, what you eat, what you wear, your washing and bathing, and keeping you safe.<\/p>\n<h3>If you do not have a Power of Attorney for Personal Care<\/h3>\n<p>You might not have a power of attorney and <strong>not<\/strong> be mentally capable of making some or all decisions about your personal care. If this happens:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>someone could go to court and ask to become your Guardian of the Person, or<\/li>\n<li>you <strong>might<\/strong> still be able to make a power of attorney if you&#8217;re mentally capable of doing that.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Decisions about health care<\/h2>\n<p>Your SDM for health care makes most health-care decisions that you&#8217;re not capable of making, including decisions about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>medical treatment,<\/li>\n<li>moving to a long-term care home, and<\/li>\n<li>personal care services in a long-term care home or a retirement home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not mentally capable, health-care providers like doctors or nurse practitioners must get the <strong>informed consent<\/strong> of your SDM before treating you.<\/p>\n<p>To give informed consent, your SDM must have the information they need to decide about the treatment, like its risks and benefits. Then they can agree to you having the treatment.<\/p>\n<h3>Who can be your SDM<\/h3>\n<p>Who gets to be your SDM for health care is based on this order:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>your Guardian of the Person<\/li>\n<li>your attorney for personal care<\/li>\n<li>someone appointed by the Consent and Capacity Board<\/li>\n<li>your spouse or partner (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/power\/who-can-be-my-attorney\">Spouse or partner<\/a> for more information)<\/li>\n<li>your parent or your child<\/li>\n<li>your brother, sister, or other sibling<\/li>\n<li>any other relative<\/li>\n<li>the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Your <strong>SDM<\/strong> must be 16 years of age or older and capable of and willing to make decisions for you.<\/p>\n<p>There cannot be a court order or separation agreement banning them from being your SDM or from being in contact with you.<\/p>\n<h2>Advance care plans<\/h2>\n<p>You can put your wishes about your health and personal care in your power of attorney. These are called advance care plans.<\/p>\n<p>Your <strong>wishes<\/strong> might be to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>stay in your own home as long as possible<\/li>\n<li>follow your religious practices related to food<\/li>\n<li>let or not let doctors use artificial life support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your wishes are for your attorney or SDM to follow, not doctors or medical staff.<\/p>\n<p>If your wishes change, put them in writing or tell someone. Your SDM or attorney must follow the most recent wishes you made while you were mentally capable.<\/p>\n<p>Your attorney or SDM must make decisions based on what&#8217;s in your best interests if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>they do not know your wishes, or<\/li>\n<li>it&#8217;s impossible to follow them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To figure out your best interests, they must think about your values and beliefs, and any risks and benefits to what they do.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-55214","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Should I make a Power of Attorney for Personal Care? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/should-i-make-a-power-of-attorney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should I make a Power of Attorney for Personal Care? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you&#8217;re no longer capable of making decisions about your health or personal care, someone must make them for you. 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