Power of Attorney Duties and Responsibilities in Nova Scotia

You agreed to be your parent's attorney under their enduring power of attorney. The document is signed, witnessed, and legally valid. Now what? Being named attorney is not an honour or a formality — it is a fiduciary appointment with specific legal obligations that, if breached, can result in personal liability, court removal, or criminal prosecution.

Here is exactly what Nova Scotia law requires of you.

The Core Fiduciary Standard

An attorney under an enduring power of attorney (EPOA) is a fiduciary. That means you must act in your parent's best interest at all times, not your own. Nova Scotia's Powers of Attorney Act, as amended in July 2022, codifies several specific duties:

Act honestly and in good faith. Every financial decision — paying bills, managing investments, filing taxes — must be made for your parent's benefit. Using their money to pay your mortgage, fund your business, or cover your debts is a breach of fiduciary duty and potentially criminal.

Choose the least restrictive option. If your parent can still manage some financial affairs, you do not take over everything. Your authority should only extend to what your parent genuinely cannot handle. The amended Act reinforces that the attorney must respect the donor's autonomy wherever possible.

Consult with your parent. Even after your parent has experienced cognitive decline, you must consult them before acting — provided it is reasonable to do so. If your parent can express preferences about selling their car or choosing a bank, those preferences carry legal weight.

Notification Requirements

When you begin acting under the EPOA, you must immediately send written notice to specific people:

• Your parent (the donor), even if they have diminished capacity
• The monitor, if one was appointed in the EPOA document
• If no monitor was named: your parent's spouse or common-law partner, their adult children, adult siblings, parents, and the delegate named in their personal directive

This notification cannot be skipped or delayed. It serves as a safeguard against abuse — other family members are put on notice that someone is now managing the finances.

Gifting Restrictions

The 2022 amendments imposed strict limits on gifts:

• You cannot make any gift from your parent's estate unless the EPOA document explicitly grants you that authority
• Even with explicit gifting authority, you cannot make a gift that would compromise your parent's ability to pay for their own personal and healthcare needs
• Routine gifts your parent always made (annual birthday cheques to grandchildren, charitable donations) may continue only if the EPOA authorizes gifts and the estate can absorb them

This means you cannot transfer your parent's house to yourself, gift money to family members for tax purposes, or donate to charity unless the EPOA says you can and the estate remains solvent for your parent's care costs.

Record-Keeping Obligations

Nova Scotia law does not prescribe a specific accounting format, but the fiduciary standard requires you to keep records sufficient to demonstrate that every dollar was spent for your parent's benefit. At minimum:

• Maintain a dedicated bank account or ledger for your parent's funds (do not commingle with your own)
• Keep receipts for every expenditure
• Document income sources: pension, OAS, GIS, investment returns, rental income
• Record any compensation you claim (see below)
• Be prepared to provide a full accounting if requested by your parent, a co-attorney, the monitor, or the court

If you are also the representative under an ACDMA representation order, the court can require periodic financial reporting. Sloppy records invite complaints to the Public Trustee, who has the authority to investigate.

Compensation Rules

Acting as attorney is unpaid by default. You are not automatically entitled to deduct a fee from your parent's estate for your time.

However, the EPOA can include a compensation clause. If it does, the terms in the document govern what you can claim. If the EPOA is silent on compensation but you hold a court-issued representation order under the ACDMA, the regulations set maximum rates:

• Personal and healthcare decisions: up to $15.00 per hour
• Financial decisions: up to 2.5% of all funds received plus 2.5% of all funds paid out during the claim period

These caps are modest. An attorney managing $40,000 in annual pension income and paying $36,000 in long-term care fees would earn a maximum of roughly $1,900 per year under the percentage formula.

What You Cannot Do

Some actions are flatly prohibited unless the EPOA specifically authorizes them:

• Change your parent's will — an attorney has no authority over testamentary documents
• Make gifts from the estate (as discussed above)
• Delegate your authority to someone else — if you cannot continue serving, the EPOA should name an alternate, or the family may need a court-appointed representative
• Act after your parent's death — the EPOA terminates immediately upon the donor's death; the executor of the will takes over

When Your Parent Regains Capacity

Capacity is not always permanent. If your parent recovers — after surgery, after a medication change, after a depressive episode lifts — the EPOA requires you to step down immediately. Your parent resumes full control of their financial affairs, and you stop acting until and unless capacity is lost again.

This is one reason springing powers of attorney (which only activate upon a certified finding of incapacity) can be safer than immediately active ones — they build in a clear trigger point rather than relying on the attorney's judgment about when to step back.

Protecting Yourself as Attorney

The role comes with real legal exposure. To protect yourself:

• Keep meticulous financial records from day one
• Send the required notifications in writing and keep copies
• If siblings are contentious, suggest your parent's EPOA include a monitor appointment under Section 16 of the amended Act — the monitor can audit your actions and validate that you are acting properly
• Never mix your parent's money with your own accounts
• If a decision is borderline (selling the family home, changing investment strategy), document your reasoning in writing

The Nova Scotia Power of Attorney & Personal Directive Kit includes a duties reference guide covering each obligation, a record-keeping template, and the forms directory for notification letters — so you are not guessing at what the law requires.

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