Enduring v. Non-Enduring Powers of Attorney in British Columbia

Wondering what the difference is between an enduring Power of Attorney and a non-enduring Power of Attorney in British Columbia?

What is an Enduring Power of Attorney?

In BC, an Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you (the “Adult”) to appoint one or more people (called attorneys) to handle your financial and legal matters if you cannot do it yourself.

• Key feature: It remains valid even if you later become mentally incapable – these Powers of Attorney “endure” past any subsequent mental infirmity
• Common uses:
  • long-term financial planning
  • managing property or bank accounts if you develop dementia or another illness that causes cognitive decline
  • ensuring bills are paid and legal matters handled if you cannot do it yourself

What is a Non-Enduring Power of Attorney?

A Non-Enduring Power of Attorney is also used to appoint someone to act for you in financial and legal matters — but non-Enduring Powers of Attorney don’t work once the adult who made them becomes incapable.

• Key feature: It automatically ends if you lose mental capacity.
• Common uses:
  • Authorizing someone to act while you are away on travel
  • Handling a single property sale while you are out of town
  • Short-term help during a medical recovery

Why would I want a non-enduring Power of Attorney?

Non-enduring Powers of Attorney are old, old documents. They used to be used before the internet, before phones, before any modern communications existed.

The idea was that you sent your agent off on horseback to another town to deal with your business there on your behalf, and you monitored that agent’s work to make sure it met with your wishes.

But once you became incapable, you were no longer able to monitor your attorney’s work. And since attorneys are fiduciaries – trusted agents who follow their adult’s instructions – their authority had to end when the adult became incapable. With no one to instruct or monitor them, the relationship failed, and the authority was terminated.

But this was back in the days when incapacity was rare – most of us never survived a stroke, and the prevalence of long term cognitive illnesses was much lower.

Now, you might use a non-enduring Power of Attorney in very specific circumstances – for example, you need to sell your home, but you are away in Alberta and can’t meet the requirements for signing an enduring Power of Attorney.

Your BC Notary can tell you when a non-enduring Power of Attorney might be right for you. Generally, though, almost all Powers of Attorney made in BC now are enduring Powers of Attorney.

How do you tell if you have an enduring Power of Attorney or a non-enduring Power of Attorney?

Sometimes a Power of Attorney will have the word “Enduring” in the title, but that doesn’t make it an enduring Power of Attorney.

In order for a Power of Attorney to be enduring, it needs some version of the following language from section 14(b) of BC’s Power of Attorney Act in it:

“the authority of the attorney continues despite the adult’s incapability”.

Without this language, you have a non-enduring Power of Attorney.

Key Differences at a Glance

How to Decide Between Them

• Choose Enduring if you want your attorney to continue helping you even if you lose capacity.
• Choose Non-Enduring for short-term, specific situations where you know you’ll remain capable but unavailable.
• Sometimes, people have both — for different purposes.

Risks and Limitations

• Enduring POA: Gives long-term control, so choose attorneys you trust completely.
• Non-Enduring POA: Not useful for incapacity planning — can leave a gap if capacity is lost unexpectedly.

Next Steps

Contact us to review your existing Power of Attorney, or to start the process to make a new one.