Coquitlam Wills Lawyer: Dementia & Elder Parents: what may a child do?

As you may be aware, once an adult - often an elder parent - becomes mentally incapable of managing their own affairs and a Power of Attorney is not in place, a person may apply to become a committe; a committee is a person - often a child - who applies to the BC Supreme Court to make personal, medical, legal, or financial decisions for someone (e.g. an elder parent) in BC who is mentally incapable. The Patients Property Act, of British Columbia legislates how a committee is appointed and how the personal and financial affairs of the patient is managed.

Committeeship appointments require the Court to declare that patients are:

• incapable of managing their affairs;

• incapable of managing their selves; and/or

• incapable of managing both their affairs and their selves.

Committee applications are complex and require substantial documentation to evidence one’s mental decline and their inabilities to manage their own affairs. This includes, but is not limited to, affidavits from medical professionals (e.g. General Practitioners).

We are experienced and experts in this field. Applications can require anywhere from a few months to a full year to prepare. As such, if you require a committeeship application, please contact us as soon as possible.

In our next wills & estates blog, we will summarize a recent case where such an application took place: Cameron (Re), 2020 BCSC 157.