Joint Power of Attorney in New Brunswick: Multiple Attorneys, Alternates, and Monitors

When One Attorney Isn't Enough (or Isn't Safe)

Many parents want to divide authority between children — one sibling handles finances while another manages personal care. Others want a backup in case the primary attorney can't act. And some families have enough internal tension that oversight from a neutral third party is the only way everyone sleeps at night.

New Brunswick's Enduring Powers of Attorney Act accommodates all of these situations, but the default rules for multi-attorney arrangements contain traps that catch families who don't specify their preferences clearly in the document.

Joint Attorneys: The Unanimity Default

If your parent names two or more attorneys for property without specifying how decisions should be made, the law defaults to unanimous agreement on every decision. Both (or all) attorneys must consent before any action is taken.

This works well for families where the co-attorneys communicate easily and agree on most things. It becomes a crisis when one attorney is traveling, hospitalized, or simply unreachable — because nothing can happen without both signatures. It becomes worse when the attorneys disagree, because the deadlock means your parent's affairs freeze until they resolve it or a court intervenes.

Your parent can override the unanimity default by specifying in the EPA document that attorneys may act jointly and severally (either attorney can act alone) or by dividing responsibilities (one handles banking, the other handles real estate). The key is that these instructions must be written into the document when it's drafted — they cannot be added informally after signing.

Property vs. Personal Care: Cross-Consultation

When different people hold the property EPA and the personal care EPA, the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act imposes a statutory duty to consult with each other. This is not optional courtesy — it is a legal requirement.

The consultation duty matters most when a decision bridges both domains. Choosing between a subsidized nursing home and a private special care home is simultaneously a personal care decision (where your parent lives, what level of support they receive) and a financial decision (what it costs each month). Both attorneys have a stake.

When the two attorneys reach different conclusions on a decision that affects both personal care and finances, the personal care attorney's decision takes precedence — unless the EPA states otherwise. This default reflects the law's priority: a person's wellbeing outranks financial optimization.

Successive (Alternate) Attorneys

Rather than joint authority, many families prefer a successive structure: one primary attorney with a named alternate who steps in only if the primary cannot or will not act.

Common triggers for the alternate to activate:

• The primary attorney dies
• The primary attorney becomes incapacitated themselves
• The primary attorney resigns (an attorney can resign by notifying the grantor in writing)
• The primary attorney moves out of the country and cannot practically manage local affairs

The EPA document should specify the exact conditions under which the alternate takes over. Without clear language, there can be disputes about whether the primary has genuinely become unavailable or simply hasn't responded to a few phone calls.

The Monitor: Built-In Oversight

One of the most underused features of New Brunswick's EPA framework is the monitor. A monitor is a person named in the EPA document whose role is to oversee the attorney's actions — not to make decisions, but to ensure the attorney is acting properly.

A monitor has the legal authority to:

• Review the attorney's financial records — transaction logs, bank statements, receipts
• Review personal care decisions — which facility was chosen and why, what treatments were consented to
• Communicate directly with the grantor (your parent) if they retain any capacity
• Apply to the Court of King's Bench for orders to terminate or modify the attorney's power if they suspect financial abuse, neglect, or mismanagement

The monitor is particularly valuable in families where:

• One child is geographically closer and serves as attorney, but other siblings want assurance their parent's affairs are being handled well
• There is a history of financial disagreements in the family
• The attorney manages significant assets (real estate, investment portfolios, rental properties)
• The parent wants an independent check on the person managing their money

The monitor doesn't slow down day-to-day management. The attorney can still pay bills, make healthcare decisions, and handle routine matters without the monitor's approval. The monitor reviews and questions — they don't block.

Common Multi-Attorney Mistakes

Naming co-attorneys who live in different provinces. Joint property management becomes impractical when one attorney lives in New Brunswick and another in British Columbia. Banking, real estate, and government interactions all require physical presence or notarized documents, and the logistics of coordinating across time zones on routine transactions create unnecessary friction.

Not specifying a decision-making structure. The unanimity default is the wrong choice for most families, but parents who simply list two names without further instructions are stuck with it. The drafting lawyer should ask explicitly: jointly, severally, or divided by domain?

Naming a monitor who has a conflict of interest. The monitor should be someone with no financial stake in the parent's estate. A sibling who stands to inherit differently depending on how the attorney manages assets is not an effective check.

The New Brunswick Power of Attorney & Personal Directive Kit includes a multi-attorney planning worksheet that walks your parent through the joint-vs-successive decision, attorney selection criteria, and the monitor question — so these structural choices are made deliberately, not by default.

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