Common Power of Attorney Mistakes in Manitoba

The Enduring Clause Mistake That Ruins Everything

Manitoba requires a specific piece of language in every power of attorney that's meant to survive the donor's mental incapacity. Under Section 10(1) of The Powers of Attorney Act, the document must contain an explicit "enduring clause" — a statement that the attorney's authority continues despite any future incapacity of the donor.

Skip that clause, and you've created a standard power of attorney. It works fine while you're healthy. The moment you develop dementia, suffer a stroke, or lose capacity in any way, it terminates automatically. Your family is left scrambling for a court-ordered committeeship through the Court of King's Bench — a process that costs thousands in legal fees and can take weeks to months to complete.

The fix is straightforward: include language along the lines of "this power of attorney shall continue in force and effect notwithstanding any subsequent mental incapacity of the donor." But it needs to be there from the start. You can't add it after the donor loses capacity.

Using the Wrong Witness

Manitoba has the strictest witnessing requirements for enduring powers of attorney in Canada. Under Section 11 of The Powers of Attorney Act, only specific professionals can witness the signing:

• A practicing lawyer or notary public
• A licensed physician
• A judge or justice of the peace
• A registered marriage solemnizer
• An RCMP or municipal police officer

Your neighbour can't witness it. Your co-worker can't witness it. Most critically, a Commissioner for Oaths — the person who stamps affidavits at the post office — is explicitly disqualified from witnessing an enduring POA in Manitoba.

The consequences of getting the witness wrong are severe. An enduring POA witnessed by someone outside the Section 11 list may still function as a regular power of attorney while the donor is mentally capable. But it loses its enduring status, meaning it terminates the moment the donor develops cognitive decline — exactly when the document was supposed to take over.

The named attorney, their spouse or common-law partner, and the donor's spouse or common-law partner are also barred from witnessing.

Appointing Multiple Attorneys Without Specifying How They Act

When a parent names two children as attorneys, most families assume both children will share authority equally. Manitoba law assumes the opposite.

Under Section 16 of The Powers of Attorney Act, if you name multiple attorneys without explicit instructions, they're presumed to act successively — meaning the second child has no authority until the first resigns, dies, or becomes incapable. Only one attorney acts at a time.

If the intent was for both children to make financial decisions together, the document must say "jointly." If you want the document to depart from the successive default, state expressly how the attorneys are to act. Without clear language, the default successive presumption creates confusion at every bank counter, every land transaction, and every investment withdrawal.

Confusing Financial POA With Medical Authority

Manitoba splits substitute decision-making into two entirely separate legal tracks. The Powers of Attorney Act governs financial and property decisions. The Health Care Directives Act governs medical and personal care decisions.

A power of attorney — even an enduring one — does not give the attorney authority under Manitoba's statutory scheme to make medical decisions. A separate Health Care Directive is required to appoint a medical proxy.

Families who prepare only a power of attorney leave a gap in exactly the area where decisions need to be made fastest: emergency medical treatment, medication changes, admission to a personal care home, and end-of-life choices.

Failing to Register at Land Titles

If the attorney expects to manage real estate — selling a family home, refinancing a mortgage, transferring property — the enduring POA must be formally registered at Teranet Manitoba's Land Titles Office. An unregistered EPOA is legally valid between the parties, but the Land Titles Office won't process any property transactions until the document is on file.

Registration costs $137 electronically or $144 on paper (2026 rates). If the witness wasn't a Manitoba lawyer, you also need an attached Affidavit of Witness. And if the property is a homestead, The Homesteads Act requires a separately signed Form 9 (Acknowledgment by Spouse) — without it, the registration gets rejected.

The worst time to discover a registration problem is when the donor is in a care facility, the family home needs to be sold to fund care costs, and nobody can complete the sale because the paperwork wasn't filed years earlier.

Not Updating After Major Life Changes

A power of attorney doesn't automatically adjust to your life. Marriages, divorces, moves to another province, and the death of a named attorney can all create problems that the original document doesn't address.

If you named your spouse as attorney and later divorced, the POA remains technically valid in Manitoba unless you explicitly revoke it. If your sole attorney dies or becomes incapacitated themselves, no one steps in unless you named a successor. If you move to British Columbia, your Manitoba EPOA may not satisfy BC's witnessing and execution standards for local transactions.

Review your enduring POA every three to five years — and immediately after any change in marital status, a move across provincial lines, or the death of your named attorney. A revocation is simple while you still have capacity, but impossible once you've lost it.

Avoiding the Costly Mistakes

Most of these mistakes share a common root: they're invisible when the document is signed and only surface months or years later, during a crisis, when fixing them is either expensive or impossible. The Manitoba Power of Attorney Kit walks you through each requirement — enduring clause language, witness eligibility, joint vs. successive attorney designations, Land Titles registration — so the document works the day you actually need it. Get the complete toolkit.

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