Opinion: Clients who act as executors or powers of attorney need training

The argument for a personal fiduciary certificate program

• By: Mark O’Farrell and Barb Amsden

• July 29, 2025

• 04:12

Most Canadians are good, honest people who don’t break the rules. But what if they don’t know or understand their role? Acting as an executor or power of attorney (POA) doesn’t come with a handbook, so it can be easy for a well-intentioned person to cross the line, neglect a key responsibility or fail to provide something they were unaware they had to deliver.

The fiduciary responsibilities of executors, POAs, guardians and trustees fall within provincial and territorial jurisdictions. Banking and taxation are mostly federal. Financial literacy and other financial regulations fall into both camps. Ethics can be confusing.

Financial abuse is far too common and must be avoided at all costs. Canadians who act as fiduciaries need guidance, so that they understand their responsibilities and treat those they work on behalf of fairly.

Our industry has a moral duty of care to provide people what they need to stay onside.

It’s important for beneficiaries, to manage their expectations and inform them of their rights. It’s important for financial advisors and financial institutions, to minimize errors and malfeasance and avoid regulatory censure and penalties.

Frank discussion of this topic is long overdue.

A basic knowledge requirement

The people that personal fiduciaries act for — disabled or incapacitated, minors, the deceased or beneficiaries — all have a reasonable expectation that those appointed will act in their best interest and follow their mandate.

But how is this possible if there are no guardrails and the only option is to litigate after someone makes a mistake or acts incorrectly? When someone is appointed, particularly when they are being compensated to look after the affairs of another, they should be required to meet a basic knowledge requirement.

Canadians need a short, easy-to-understand self-study program covering ethics, personal fiduciary responsibilities and the general duty of care required when acting as a POA or executor in a position of trust. It should review responsibilities and expectations regarding communication, fairness, protection and distribution of assets, reporting and more.

Will makers and POA grantors should be able to specify that they want their appointees to take such a course. To satisfy financial institutions and give confidence to those relying on the fiduciary, evidence of completion should be available — a certificate that can be presented upon request.

This would reduce the early demands on advisors’ time when a POA is exercised, or a client is a first-time executor.

Later, it would provide a defence for professionals involved in POA or estate cases who become subject to litigation when a beneficiary or other person believes that the financial gatekeepers could have stopped fiduciary misbehaviour but didn’t.

Mark O’Farrell, BA, CLU, CHFC, TEP, CEA is CEO at The Institute of Certified Executor Advisors and the Canadian Institute of Certified Executor Advisors. Barb Amsden is a financial consumer advocate and author of How to Laugh at Death and Taxes.