Your mother or father has been diagnosed with dementia. Maybe you already hold a power of attorney from years ago. Maybe you are wondering whether to get one now. Either way, you want to know what will still let you help when your parent can no longer manage on their own. Here is how it works in Quebec.
The short answer
In Quebec, a regular power of attorney is not built for dementia. It works while your parent still has capacity. Once your parent can no longer make the decisions it covers, it stops being a valid basis for acting.
The document built for dementia is the mandate of protection, once a court homologates it. If your parent never signed one, the path is tutorship. Which one applies depends on where your parent is today.
Early stage: your parent can still understand and sign
A dementia diagnosis alone does not mean your parent can no longer sign legal documents. What matters is whether they understand what they are signing at that moment. Many people in the early stages still can.
If that is your parent, this is the most valuable window you have. Ask a notary about a mandate of protection, not just a power of attorney. For more on this stage, see can a parent with dementia still sign a protection mandate. A mandate can be signed before a notary or before two witnesses. It lets your parent choose who will act for them later, for their care and for their property. It stays dormant until it is needed.
Many notaries suggest signing both documents at once. The power of attorney covers the years when your parent is still capable but wants help. The mandate takes over if capacity is lost. The notary will also confirm that your parent understands what they are signing. If the notary has doubts, they will tell you.
Middle stage: you hold a power of attorney, and things are slipping
This is the situation I see most often. A parent gave an adult child a power of attorney years ago, often for banking. Now the parent is forgetting bills, repeating questions, or making unsafe decisions. The family assumes the power of attorney still gives them authority.
It does not. Once your parent can no longer make the decisions it covers, the power of attorney is no longer a valid basis for acting. A bank may keep accepting it for a while out of habit. That does not make it valid, and it can stop without warning, often at the worst moment.
What to do next:
- Find out whether a mandate of protection exists. Check your parent's papers and ask the notary who made their will. Your notary or lawyer can search the registers.
- If there is a mandate, the family applies to have it homologated. The person your parent named can then act.
- If there is no mandate, the family applies for tutorship. The court decides who the tutor will be.
Both paths need a medical evaluation from a doctor and a psychosocial evaluation from a social worker.
Later stage: no documents, and your parent can no longer sign
Once your parent has lost the capacity to understand what they are signing, it is too late to sign a power of attorney or a mandate. Signing either one requires that capacity.
This is not a dead end. Tutorship exists for exactly this situation. It takes longer than homologating a mandate, because the court must also decide who the tutor will be. More detail in what happens if there is no protection mandate in Quebec.
What about medical decisions in the meantime?
Medical consent works differently from money and property. When a person cannot consent to care, Article 15 of the Civil Code sets out who can consent for them. In order, it is the mandatary, the tutor, the spouse, then a close relative or a person showing special interest.
That rule helps at the hospital. It does not give anyone authority over bank accounts, a house, or a move to a residence that requires a signed contract. For those, you still need a homologated mandate or tutorship.
Signs it may be time to act
- Unpaid bills, unusual withdrawals, or calls from the bank.
- Missed medication or appointments.
- A hospital, residence or notary asking who has legal authority.
- Your parent signing things they cannot explain afterward.
For a fuller list, see signs your aging parent may need an incapacity assessment.
Where I fit in
I do not draft powers of attorney or mandates. That is a notary's role. I am a social worker and a member of the OTSTCFQ. I complete the psychosocial evaluation the court requires for homologation and tutorship. I also help families figure out which path they are on and what to gather first. I work in English and French across Greater Montreal and the West Island.
If you are not sure where your parent stands, a short conversation usually clears it up. I offer free 15-minute consultations.
Common questions
Can someone with dementia sign a power of attorney in Quebec?
Sometimes. A diagnosis alone does not mean your parent can no longer sign. What matters is whether they understand what they are signing at that moment. The notary assesses this before signing. If the notary has doubts, they will say so.
Does a power of attorney still work after a dementia diagnosis?
It works only while your parent still has capacity. A regular power of attorney is not designed for incapacity. Once your parent can no longer make the decisions it covers, it stops being a valid basis for acting, even if the bank keeps accepting it for a while.
What replaces a power of attorney once my parent cannot decide?
A homologated mandate of protection, if your parent signed one. If not, the family applies for tutorship to a person of full age. Both require a medical evaluation and a psychosocial evaluation.
Who can consent to medical care for a parent with dementia?
For medical decisions, Article 15 of the Civil Code sets an order: the mandatary, the tutor, the spouse, then a close relative or a person showing special interest. This covers medical consent only. It does not give authority over money or property.