Your Attorney for Personal Care is the person you authorize to make decisions about your health care, housing, and other personal matters if you become mentally incapable of making them yourself. You can appoint one attorney, plus backups in case your first choice is unable or unwilling to act. Co-attorneys aren't supported; each tier holds one person.
Note: This document and role go by different names depending on your province. In British Columbia it's a Representation Agreement and your Healthcare Representative; in Alberta it's a Personal Directive and your Agent. The steps are the same, and the labels in Willful will match your province.
Step 1: Go to your Attorney for Personal Care
Open your Attorney for Personal Care page, or follow these steps:
Log in to your Willful account.
Click Your documents in the left-hand menu (top right corner on mobile).
Find Power of Attorney for Personal Care (or your province's equivalent) and click Review and edit.
Under Roles & responsibilities, click Edit next to Attorney (or Healthcare Representative / Agent).
Note: If you've completed your documents, you can also click Review and edit on your Power of Attorney for Personal Care tile on your home page.
Step 2: Choose your attorney
Primary: Your first choice for the role. Your Attorney for Personal Care can be any trusted person who's willing and able to advocate for your health and wellbeing. Many married people choose their spouse, but another family member, a close friend, or a professional advisor are all common choices.
Secondary (recommended): Your backup, in case your first choice can't serve.
Want more backups? Click Add more backups to add another tier.
To choose someone, pick from your existing contacts in the dropdown, or click Add a contact to add someone new without leaving the page.
You need to name at least one attorney before you can save.
Not sure who to choose? Click Help with this question for guidance.
Step 3: Save your changes
Click Save. Your attorney's name will now show under Roles & responsibilities on your document summary.
Step 4: Share your healthcare wishes (optional)
Back on your document summary, scroll to Healthcare wishes. Under Medical decisions you can guide your attorney's choices:
Pain management: choose maximum pain relief, limited pain management, or let your attorney decide.
Medical plan: choose the approach you'd like your attorney to follow, or let them decide.
Click Edit next to either question, choose your answer, then click Save.
Reminder: Any change means you'll need to download, print, sign, and witness your updated document for the changes to be legally valid.