Power of Attorney in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador uses two separate legal documents for power of attorney: an Enduring Power of Attorney for property and finances, and an Advance Health Care Directive for medical and personal care decisions.

Information last verified on 2026-08-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Two separate documents, two separate laws

Newfoundland and Labrador does not use one combined power-of-attorney statute. Property and financial authority comes from the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act, RSNL 1990, c. E-11, while health care decision-making comes from the entirely separate Advance Health Care Directives Act, SNL 1995, c. A-4.1. The Enduring Powers of Attorney Act applies only to the management of the donor's estate, apart from a narrow set of sections dealing with RDSP designation agreements. The two Acts have their own definitions, their own witnessing rules, and their own revocation rules, so a document made under one does not carry any authority under the other. For general background on how power of attorney works across Canada, see our guide to power of attorney in Canada.

The Enduring Power of Attorney (property and finances)

• The Enduring Powers of Attorney Act governs authority over the donor's estate and financial affairs only.
• Execution requires the donor's signature witnessed by one person who is not the named attorney or that attorney's spouse or cohabiting partner. The Act does not set a minimum age for the witness.
• The named attorney must be 19 or older, and an attorney cannot delegate their role to someone else.
• The legal test for incapacity is a mental disability such that the donor, if acting, would be unable to understand the nature and effect of the action.
• To qualify as "enduring," the document must state that it applies during the donor's legal incapacity. It can be drafted to take effect immediately and continue through any later incapacity, or to spring into effect only once incapacity begins. The donor's own document controls which model applies; the Act does not require one over the other.
• There is no prescribed statutory form for the general property EPA. A ministerial form requirement exists only for a separate RDSP designation-agreement instrument, which is a distinct arrangement for RDSP-beneficiary representatives, not the general power of attorney.

Attorney duties and liability

An attorney under the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act must act to protect the donor's best interests, and failing to do so can create liability to compensate the donor for any resulting loss. The Act treats the attorney as a trustee of the donor's property. A court may relieve an attorney of personal liability if the attorney proves they acted honestly, reasonably, and in good faith, and the Act protects an attorney, along with third parties dealing with the attorney, who act in good faith without notice that the EPA has been revoked or is otherwise invalid.

The Act does not address gift-giving authority for the attorney; any power to make gifts on the donor's behalf would have to come from the wording of the document itself, not from the statute. The Act is similarly silent on compensation for a property attorney: it is neither granted nor prohibited at the statutory level. This is different from the separate RDSP designation-agreement rules, which expressly bar RDSP designates, a narrower and unrelated role, from remuneration.

Ending or challenging an Enduring Power of Attorney

A donor may revoke the EPA, or change the named attorney, at any time while the donor still has legal capacity. Notably, the Act does not state that marriage or divorce automatically revokes or affects a property EPA, which is worth flagging because the Advance Health Care Directives Act, covered below, has the opposite rule for a spouse named as substitute decision maker. No registration or filing is required for a general EPA.

If the named attorney becomes legally incapable, an interested person or the Public Trustee can apply to have a substitute attorney appointed. A court can also compel an attorney to submit accounts, and a defectively witnessed EPA can be converted into a guardianship application under the Mentally Disabled Persons' Estates Act.

The Advance Health Care Directive (health and personal care)

The Advance Health Care Directives Act governs health care decisions and the appointment of a substitute decision maker (SDM), entirely separately from the property EPA. Any competent person may appoint an SDM. The SDM must be at least 19 and must give written acceptance of the appointment; once made, the appointment survives the maker's later loss of competency.

The capacity standard requires that the person be able to understand information relevant to a health care decision and appreciate its reasonably foreseeable consequences. People 16 and older are presumed competent; people younger than 16 are presumed not competent.

The directive must be in writing, signed by the maker, and witnessed by at least two independent people. If the maker cannot sign, someone else may sign on the maker's behalf and at the maker's direction, excluding the SDM or the SDM's spouse, with the maker then acknowledging the document before two independent witnesses.

Unlike the property EPA, an Advance Health Care Directive only becomes effective once the maker ceases to be competent. It cannot be drafted to take effect immediately while the maker is still capable, which is a real structural difference from the financial instrument.

If a divorce happens after signing

If a person's spouse was named as their substitute decision maker and the marriage later ends by divorce, or is declared void or annulled, that spouse's SDM appointment is automatically revoked unless the directive states otherwise. The property EPA has no comparable automatic-revocation rule tied to marriage or divorce, so an outdated EPA naming an ex-spouse does not end itself; it has to be revoked in writing. (See our guide to common-law relationships in Newfoundland and Labrador for how the province defines a spouse or cohabiting partner.)

If there is no directive: the fallback decision maker list

If a person never appointed a substitute decision maker, the Act sets out a ranked list of who can make health care decisions on their behalf: spouse, then children, then parents, then siblings, then grandchildren, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, then nieces and nephews, then another relative, then a treating health care professional. Each person on the list generally must be 19 or older and, under a 2021 amendment, generally must have had personal contact with the person in the preceding 12 months, subject to a court-ordered waiver.

Other protections built into the Act

• A good-faith health care decision made by an SDM does not by itself disqualify that SDM, or their spouse, from a bequest, life insurance proceeds, or an intestate share of the maker's estate.
• A court can suspend or terminate an SDM's appointment, rescind a decision, or appoint a replacement if the SDM acted in bad faith or contrary to instructions known to them.
• Willfully concealing, destroying, altering, falsifying, or forging a directive without the maker's consent is an offence under the Act.

Forms and the Office of the Public Trustee

No mandatory government form exists for the general property EPA. The Advance Health Care Directives Act gives the Lieutenant Governor in Council the power to make regulations prescribing a directive form, but it is not clear whether a specific form has actually been prescribed under that power. Confirm current form requirements directly with the Office of the Public Trustee or a lawyer before relying on any template.

The Office of the Public Trustee, created under the Public Trustee Act, 2009, operates as an independent Crown corporation and can act as attorney under an enduring power of attorney. It generally does not act as guardian of the person and so does not make medical care decisions, which tracks the EPA Act's financial-only scope. The Advance Health Care Directives Act also references the Provincial Director of Adults in Need of Protective Intervention, appointed under the Adult Protection Act, 2021, in connection with the fallback decision maker list. The extent of that office's role, if any, in investigating suspected abuse of a power of attorney or health care directive was not confirmed in our research and should not be assumed.

For related estate-planning topics, see our guides to making a will in Canada, dying without a will in Canada, executor duties in Canada, and probate in Canada.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about powers of attorney and advance health care directives in Newfoundland and Labrador and is not legal advice. It does not confirm whether a specific Advance Health Care Directive form has actually been prescribed by regulation under section 25 of the Advance Health Care Directives Act, and it does not confirm the extent of the Provincial Director of Adults in Need of Protective Intervention's role, if any, in investigating suspected abuse of a power of attorney or health care directive. Execution rules, forms, and government contact details change; confirm current requirements with the Office of the Public Trustee, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, or a licensed lawyer before signing or relying on either document.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an Enduring Power of Attorney and an Advance Health Care Directive in Newfoundland and Labrador?

They are two completely separate documents made under two separate statutes. The Enduring Power of Attorney, made under the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act, covers only the donor's property and financial affairs. The Advance Health Care Directive, made under the Advance Health Care Directives Act, covers health care decisions and the appointment of a substitute decision maker. Neither document does the other's job, and most people who want both kinds of protection need to sign both.

How many witnesses does a power of attorney need in Newfoundland and Labrador?

An Enduring Power of Attorney for property needs one witness, who cannot be the named attorney or that attorney's spouse or cohabiting partner. An Advance Health Care Directive needs two independent witnesses, and different rules apply if the maker cannot sign for themselves.

Does a Newfoundland and Labrador power of attorney need to be notarized?

No. Neither the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act nor the Advance Health Care Directives Act requires notarization. Witnessing, as described in each Act, is the formal execution requirement.

Can one document cover both property and health care decisions in Newfoundland and Labrador?

No. Unlike some provinces that combine both roles into one statute, Newfoundland and Labrador administers property and health care decision-making under two independently enacted Acts, each with its own definitions, witnessing rules, and revocation rules.

What happens to an Advance Health Care Directive after a divorce?

If the maker's spouse was named as substitute decision maker and the marriage later ends by divorce, or is declared void or annulled, that spouse's appointment is automatically revoked unless the directive says otherwise. There is no equivalent automatic-revocation rule for a property Enduring Power of Attorney naming a spouse as attorney.

Who makes health care decisions if there is no Advance Health Care Directive?

The Act sets out a ranked list: spouse, then children, then parents, then siblings, then grandchildren, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, then nieces and nephews, then another relative, then a treating health care professional. Most people on the list generally need to be 19 or older and to have had personal contact with the person in the preceding 12 months, subject to a court-ordered waiver.