There are a lot of Canadians who head to the southern United States every winter. Tax and residency issues aside, there is another issue that many don’t think about: ensuring they have a valid power of attorney that will work in both jurisdictions.
I recently attended a program on mobility with powers of attorney, The basic advice is quite sound: if you are going to be spending significant time outside of Ontario, you should see a lawyer in that other jurisdiction and make sure that your power of attorney done in Ontario will be valid in the other place if something happens to you. If it won’t, taking the time now to make a second one, that does not revoke your Ontario POA but will allow decisions to be made for you if you become incapacitated there, will make your life much, much easier.
