POWERS OF ATTORNEY FOR PERSONAL CARE OVERVIEW
A power of attorney for personal care is a document that allows you (the “grantor”) to appoint someone (an “attorney”) to make decisions with respect to all aspects of your personal care, but only to the extent that you later become incapable of making personal care decisions.
Personal care decisions include anything about your “person”, most importantly where you live (possible long term care decisions) and decisions around medical treatment and consent.
An attorney for personal care is required to make decisions based upon the grantor’s last known capable wishes, and if those wishes are not known, the attorney must make decisions based on the grantor’s best interests.
If you have not signed a power of attorney while you are capable of doing so, and you later become mentally incapable, you will not be able to choose your substitute decision maker. A family member or friend would need to be appointed by the court to be your “guardian of the person”. Sometimes the Public Guardian and Trustee would be appointed your guardian under statute until someone else applies to replace them as Guardian.