Home Legal News & Article 10 things you should know when selecting an Attorney for Property:
10 things you should know when selecting an Attorney for Property: PDF Print
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 22:12
  • An attorney must be at least 18 years old and mentally competent to make property decisions.
  • Your Attorney should be someone who is trustworthy.
  • The Attorney must account to you for his/her actions and therefore must keep records of their activities on your behalf.
  • They should be someone who has good common sense in making investment decisions. If they are not sure about managing your money or property then they should understand that they should hire professionals for advice.
  • It is important that your Attorney will listen to you and is someone who will try to cooperate with the others in the family but will not be influenced by them in the decision-making process on your behalf.
  • Be sure to discuss, in advance, the fact that you wish to appoint someone to be your attorney so that you do not catch them by surprise. If they are unwilling to act you may not have the protection that you think you have under your power of attorney.
  • Generally it is better to appoint someone who is younger than you to be your attorney so that at least statistically they will be in better health and live longer than you.
  • If you have two different people appointed as attorneys, one for property and one for personal care they should be able to cooperate with each other and act in your best interests.
  • It is also important to consider geography and to nominate someone who lives nearby as opposed to, for instance, Vancouver. It is also helpful if they are reasonably familiar with your personal situation.
  • Do not forget to appoint someone else who can substitute for your first choice so that, in the event of ill health or death of your first choice, you will have not lost someone to act.
Last Updated on Thursday, 28 May 2009 19:53