Thank you very much Sarah for your thoughtful and informative reply. I will of course confirm with my lawyer that similar laws and procedures apply in Ontario (as I expect they do). With this understanding of the liability risk to co-executors, I think the risk in my case is small given that all executors and beneficiaries are close family members. If there is no way around all five signing all documents, I expect the group will likely decide to simplify the process by having two or three persons stand down (I think the legal word is renounce).
Sarah, in your first post in this thread, you suggested that (if Ontario laws permit) I might " assign small decisions to be made 'jointly and severally' and large decisions (listed) to be made jointly". I would like to include such wording in my will and in by two POA documents (for Property and for Personal Care). But I would like to limit this to more of a guiding principle than a binding requirement. Again, I would prefer to trust to the judgement of the five than to guess now what they will need to do.
For my POA for Personal Care, I would want each of the five family members to know they had my permission to act immediately without consultation in an emergency situation no matter how important. But in the other two documents, I would want to encourage them to err on the side of consultation whenever they were in doubt. I know I could just speak to each person about my wishes in advance or put my thoughts in a letter, but I think these principles will be more salient if included in the will and POAs.
The wills and POA documents I have seen appear to contain only clear and binding clauses. I wonder if you, or any other forum participants, have encountered wills or POAs that include non-binding principles either identified explicitly as such, or perhaps with wording in the duties of executors/attorneys section something like "My executors/attorneys will, to the extent it is reasonable and practical, ...." ?
Also, if I can trouble you with one more question. I know my lawyer must be concerned about his liability if he produces a will or POA documents that don't work. So I expect he will want to be conservative and stay as close as possible to the tried and true. I expect he may want to charge me for the extra work he does both to develop non-standard wording and to check that this wording is legally safe and effective. Have you any suggestions that might help me in working with him?
Thank you again for your many helpful comments. I am very impressed with this forum and the benefit it must be to many Australians. I am also impressed with (and thankful for) the hospitality you are showing me.
Sarah, in your first post in this thread, you suggested that (if Ontario laws permit) I might " assign small decisions to be made 'jointly and severally' and large decisions (listed) to be made jointly". I would like to include such wording in my will and in by two POA documents (for Property and for Personal Care). But I would like to limit this to more of a guiding principle than a binding requirement. Again, I would prefer to trust to the judgement of the five than to guess now what they will need to do.
For my POA for Personal Care, I would want each of the five family members to know they had my permission to act immediately without consultation in an emergency situation no matter how important. But in the other two documents, I would want to encourage them to err on the side of consultation whenever they were in doubt. I know I could just speak to each person about my wishes in advance or put my thoughts in a letter, but I think these principles will be more salient if included in the will and POAs.
The wills and POA documents I have seen appear to contain only clear and binding clauses. I wonder if you, or any other forum participants, have encountered wills or POAs that include non-binding principles either identified explicitly as such, or perhaps with wording in the duties of executors/attorneys section something like "My executors/attorneys will, to the extent it is reasonable and practical, ...." ?
Also, if I can trouble you with one more question. I know my lawyer must be concerned about his liability if he produces a will or POA documents that don't work. So I expect he will want to be conservative and stay as close as possible to the tried and true. I expect he may want to charge me for the extra work he does both to develop non-standard wording and to check that this wording is legally safe and effective. Have you any suggestions that might help me in working with him?
Thank you again for your many helpful comments. I am very impressed with this forum and the benefit it must be to many Australians. I am also impressed with (and thankful for) the hospitality you are showing me.