Renouncing Power of Attorney Appointment: Do I have to Be Power of Attorney Even If I Don’t Want To Be?

If a family member or friend has made a Power of Attorney (POA) document, and in it they have named you their attorney for property or personal care, you do not have to accept the role. If you do not want to act, or you cannot act, you are free to refuse the role.

No one appointed in a Power of Attorney (POA) document is required to accept the role. A POA document is not  mutual (two-sided), and so, cannot be a binding contract. A POA document is simply a unilateral (or one-sided) expression of the wishes of the person making the document.

For your sake and for the sake of the person who made the POA document, if you do not want to act as attorney for property or personal care, do not start.

Resigning from Role as Attorney for Property or Personal Care

If you have already started acting as attorney for property or personal care, then there is a formal process involved for you to resign. You will need to send written notice to the person whose property or person you are managing, and to any other attorney named in the Power or Attorney document.

Ideally, the Power of Attorney document names more than one attorney, such as a co-attorney, or a substitute attorney. If so, the next or remaining-named person(s) may act in your place.

Problems arise if there is no one else named as attorney, if the person does not have capacity to make a new Power of Attorney document, and if the person requires someone to manage their property or person. In that situation, either someone must make an application to Court for an Order appointing them to act as guardian, or the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee may have to act as guardian.

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