When a power of attorney is misused, vulnerable Ontarians suffer. We act swiftly to protect them.
POA Abuse Practice
48hr
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25+
Years in Elder Law
Quick Answer
What constitutes power of attorney abuse in Ontario?
Power of attorney abuse occurs when an attorney acts outside the scope of their authority, engages in self-dealing, fails to account for the grantor's assets, or makes decisions contrary to the grantor's best interests. Common examples include unauthorized asset transfers, commingling funds, and isolating the grantor from family.
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Lawyers licensed by the Law Society of Ontario
Wills, powers of attorney, probate and estate disputes
POA ABUSE
Power of Attorney Abuse in Ontario
A power of attorney is a legal instrument that confers authority on one person (the attorney) to act on behalf of another (the grantor). In Ontario, powers of attorney are governed by the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 (SDA). A continuing power of attorney for property under s. 7 of the SDA authorizes the attorney to manage the grantor's financial affairs, while a power of attorney for personal care under s. 46 of the SDA authorizes decisions about health care, nutrition, shelter, and safety.
Abuse occurs when an attorney acts outside the scope of their authority, engages in self-dealing, fails to keep proper accounts, or makes decisions that are not in the grantor's best interests. Common examples include unauthorized transfers of the grantor's assets, using the grantor's funds for personal expenses, selling property below fair market value, and isolating the grantor from family members. These actions constitute a breach of the fiduciary duty owed by every attorney to the grantor under s. 32 and s. 66 of the SDA.
REMEDIES
Court Applications for Attorney Removal and Accounting
Under s. 42 of the SDA, the court may order an attorney for property to pass accounts, providing a detailed record of all transactions conducted on behalf of the grantor. This is a critical remedy in cases of suspected financial abuse. The court may also order the attorney to compensate the grantor for any losses resulting from mismanagement or misconduct.
Where the abuse is serious, the court may terminate the power of attorney and appoint a new attorney or a guardian under s. 12 of the SDA. In urgent cases, we bring emergency motions to freeze the grantor's assets and to impose interim restrictions on the attorney's authority. The Public Guardian and Trustee of Ontario may also investigate complaints of financial abuse under s. 27 of the SDA and may intervene where the grantor's welfare is at risk.
FIDUCIARY DUTIES
The Attorney's Fiduciary Obligations
Every attorney acting under a power of attorney in Ontario owes fiduciary duties to the grantor. Under s. 32 of the SDA, an attorney for property must act diligently, in good faith, and in the best interests of the incapable person. The attorney must explain their decisions to the grantor if the grantor is able to understand, must keep proper accounts, and must not commingle the grantor's assets with their own.
Similarly, an attorney for personal care under s. 66 of the SDA must act diligently, in good faith, and in accordance with the grantor's prior capable wishes. Where the grantor's wishes are not known, the attorney must act in the grantor's best interests, considering the values and beliefs the grantor held when capable. A breach of these duties may result in personal liability, removal as attorney, and in egregious cases, referral for criminal prosecution under the Criminal Code provisions relating to fraud, theft, or elder abuse.
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What constitutes power of attorney abuse in Ontario?
Power of attorney abuse occurs when an attorney acts outside the scope of their authority, engages in self-dealing, fails to account for the grantor's assets, or makes decisions contrary to the grantor's best interests. Common examples include unauthorized asset transfers, commingling funds, and isolating the grantor from family.
How can I force an attorney to account for their actions?
Under s. 42 of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992, you may bring a court application requiring the attorney for property to pass accounts. This compels the attorney to provide a detailed accounting of all financial transactions conducted on behalf of the grantor.
Can a power of attorney be revoked?
A grantor who is mentally capable may revoke a power of attorney at any time. If the grantor is incapable, the court may terminate the power of attorney on application by a family member, the Public Guardian and Trustee, or any other interested person under the Substitute Decisions Act.
What is the role of the Public Guardian and Trustee?
The Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) of Ontario has authority under s. 27 of the SDA to investigate allegations that an attorney is not acting in the incapable person's best interests. The PGT may also apply to the court for the termination of a power of attorney and the appointment of a guardian.
Can an attorney be held personally liable for losses?
Yes. An attorney who breaches their fiduciary duties under the SDA may be ordered to compensate the grantor for any losses resulting from their misconduct. The court may also order disgorgement of any profits the attorney improperly obtained from the grantor's assets.
What is the difference between an attorney for property and an attorney for personal care?
An attorney for property manages the grantor's financial affairs under a continuing power of attorney for property (s. 7, SDA). An attorney for personal care makes decisions about health care, nutrition, shelter, and safety under a power of attorney for personal care (s. 46, SDA).
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Immigration Regulatory Body: CICC
Immigration consulting services are provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 292.
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Where we refer a matter to another firm, including through LexKonnect, we comply with Rule 3.6-6.1 of the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Any referral fee is set out in the Law Society’s standard referral agreement, signed by you before the referral proceeds, and no fee is payable to us unless and until the receiving firm has been paid for its work. You are never obliged to accept a referral and are free to retain any firm you choose. No referral arrangement affects the independent professional judgment of any lawyer at this firm.
Limitation Periods
Failure to commence proceedings within applicable limitation periods may permanently bar your claim. In Ontario, the general limitation period is two (2) years from discovery under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B. Seek legal advice promptly.
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Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer. Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope permitted by the Law Society of Ontario, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters. Immigration consulting may be provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants, who are not lawyers. Each page and each biography states which applies. Ask us at the outset who will handle your matter and under which licence.
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We serve clients in a number of languages. Every page of this site is written and published in English. Where a document, a summary or a conversation is provided in another language, the English version governs in the event of any difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when you book and we will arrange one.
Lexaltico LLP
Legal Notices
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
What we collect
What you give us
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send:
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How we use it
Purpose
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Your rights under PIPEDA
Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act,
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Retention
Client files are kept for the period the law and the Law Society require, ordinarily
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Enquiries that do not become files
If you contact us and no retainer follows, what you sent is retained only as long as our conflict
records require, then destroyed.
If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Office of the Privacy
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Short, and written to be read rather than scrolled past.
The four things that matter most
Nothing on this site is legal advice, however specific it looks.
Using the site or sending a form does not make us your lawyers.
Do not send confidential information before a retainer is signed.
Past results depend on their own facts and do not predict yours.
What this site is
Information, not advice
This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite
statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your
matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is
usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be
wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have
forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
Law also changes. Pages carry a review date where one is relevant. A page reviewed last year may
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When we become your lawyers
Three things must happen first
A conflict check must be completed. We act for a great many people and
businesses, and we cannot act against a current client or use what we learned from a former one.
That check happens before anything else and occasionally means we have to decline.
We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we
can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
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Confidentiality before a retainer
Why you should not send us documents yet
Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by
solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no
solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we
are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of
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So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it
arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The
documents come after the retainer.
Results, testimonials and reviews
What they do and do not tell you
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are
specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of
that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your
matter is worth.
Client reviews are the views of the people who wrote them. We do not offer anything in return for
a review, we do not write them, and we do not ask only the clients we expect to be positive.
Calculators on this site produce estimates from the figures you enter. They apply published
formulas and they cannot know about the facts that most often change the answer.
Copyright, links and governing law
Copyright
The content of this site belongs to Lexaltico LLP or its licensors. You are welcome to read it,
print it and quote it with attribution. You may not republish it as your own.
Links
We link to statutes, regulations, court decisions and government pages because a reader should be
able to check us. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them, and a link is
not an endorsement.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law permits, Lexaltico LLP is not liable for any loss arising from your
use of, or reliance on, anything published on this website.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of Ontario and the federal law of Canada that applies in
Ontario. Lawyers and licensed professionals at the firm are regulated by the Law Society of
Ontario, and marketing on this site is intended to comply with the
Rules of Professional Conduct.
Every limit on what this website tells you, and every thing it does not do, in one
place rather than in small print at the bottom of each page.
Before you rely on anything here
Four limits, and they matter in this order.
Not legal advice
Everything published on this website is general information. It is not legal
advice, it does not take account of the facts of any particular situation, and reading it does not
create a solicitor client relationship. Do not act, or decide not to act, on anything here without
speaking to a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction about your own circumstances.
Jurisdiction
These pages describe the law of Ontario, and of Alberta only
where a page says so expressly. They do not describe the law of any other province, territory or
country. Law that looks similar across jurisdictions frequently is not.
Currency of the law
Each page states the law as at the review date shown on it. Legislation is amended and case law
develops. A page accurate when written may no longer be.
Generality
These pages describe how a rule usually works. That is not the same as how it applies to your
facts. The exceptions are where most real matters live, and a page written for a general reader
cannot tell you whether you are inside a rule or inside its exception.
If you contact us
If you are in danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through a form here are read during
business hours and a reply may take up to one business day.
Using this website, submitting a form, sending an email or speaking to us on the telephone does
not make us your lawyers. That relationship arises only when the firm has
confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act, a conflict search has been completed, and a
retainer has been signed.
Confidentiality of enquiries
Do not send confidential or sensitive information through this website or by email until we have
confirmed in writing that we can act for you. Information sent before that point is
not treated as confidential and may prevent us from acting for you, or for
someone else, in a connected matter.
Response times
We aim to reply within one business day. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any
particular period, does not oblige the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy
any limitation period, filing date or court deadline.
Our telephone line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken
by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during
the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same
as giving legal advice, and no relationship arises from that call.
Who we are and how we are regulated
Law Society of Ontario
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the
Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in
Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
Law Society of Alberta
Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with, and in good standing with, the
Law Society of Alberta. A lawyer licensed in Ontario is not thereby licensed in
Alberta, and the reverse is also true.
Immigration regulation
Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants
in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29,
s. 292.
Lawyers, paralegals and consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer.
Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope the Law Society
permits, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters.
Immigration consultants are regulated by the College, not by a law society,
and are not lawyers.
Law clerks and managers support files but do not give legal advice.
Each page and biography states which applies. Ask at the outset who will handle your matter and
under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in thirteen languages. Every page of this website is written and published in
English. Where anything is provided in another language, the English
version governs in the event of a difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when
you book and we will arrange one.
Fees
The initial assessment
The complimentary 15 minute initial assessment is a brief introductory
conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute
legal advice.
The firm charges a fee for substantive consultations, including in civil litigation,
criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion.
Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the
firm.
Referral fees
Where we refer a matter to another firm, including through LexKonnect, we comply with Rule 3.6-6.1 of the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Any referral fee is set out in the Law Society’s standard referral agreement, signed by you before the referral proceeds, and no fee is payable to us unless and until the receiving firm has been paid for its work. You are never obliged to accept a referral and are free to retain any firm you choose. No referral arrangement affects the independent professional judgment of any lawyer at this firm.
What is published on this site
Calculators and estimators
They produce estimates from what you type and cannot know the rest. They do not
account for the terms of your contract, statutory exceptions, or the discretion a court will
apply. Do not make a decision on a number produced by a calculator.
Past results
Any outcome described happened on its own facts, before its own decision maker,
under the law as it stood at the time. Past results do not predict or guarantee the result of any
other case.
Reviews and testimonials
Reviews shown here are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each
describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a
prediction or a guarantee about any other matter.
Links to other websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social
platforms, all operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for
their content or accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement.
Other notices
Limitation periods
Failure to start a proceeding within the applicable limitation period may permanently bar
your claim. In Ontario the general period is two years from discovery
under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B.
Shorter periods apply to many claims. Seek advice promptly. Nothing on this website extends a
limitation period.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone
+1 416 333 6200 or write to
hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information
in another format, at no charge.
