Termination of authority of substitute attorney
Many powers of attorney authorize an attorney to appoint substitute attorneys. The authority of such substitutes derives from and depends upon the authority of the named attorney. Accordingly, if the original attorney becomes incapable of acting, the authority of the substitute is terminated. This would happen where the named attorney becomes bankrupt, mentally incompetent or dies.
See Potasky v. Potasky (2002), [2002] 7 W.W.R. 504
Powers of substitute attorney limited to those of the named attorney
A substitute attorney appointed by a named attorney cannot have more authority than the named attorney. If the named attorney cannot exercise a particular power, the substitute attorney cannot either, even where the document creating the delegation purports to allow this. Furthermore, where an attorney is prohibited by law from doing some act (i.e. executing Homesteads Act consents and releases), a substitute attorney named by them cannot exercise this power.