All About Estates

Category: Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes

Total 64 Posts

Your Wish is my Command

A guardian or attorney for personal care has a duty to make decisions in accordance with an incapable person’s wishes or instructions as they were when the person was capable. The guardian or attorney also has an obligation to try and ascertain such wishes and instructions. If it is impossible…

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Wish lists are for more than just the holiday season

This blog has been written by Mohena Singh [Associate] at Fasken LLP As we near the new year and reflect on another holiday season, many of us may have used this time to spend with family and friends or catch up on some much needed rest and recovery. This time…

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Suggested Instructions for Attorneys for Personal Care: Limitations of Authority

It is just as important to know the limitations of a power of attorney for personal care as it is to know your responsibilities.

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The SDA and Parens Patriae Jurisdiction

Power of attorney and guardianship disputes are fairly common in the estate litigation world. Oftentimes, siblings proceed to court as a result of allegations of financial abuse or a failure to look after the health and care of an incapable parent, in accordance with what is required of an attorney…

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“Hypothetical and Premature”: Challenge of Will, POAs, and Trust While Grantor Alive and Capable

A few months ago the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Palichuk v. Palichuk, 2023 ONCA 116 (CanLII) (“Palichuk”) which upheld the decision of the applications judge. The applications judge dismissed a guardianship application and awarded costs against the appellant. The appellant sought guardianship of her mom and…

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The Bio-Psycho-Social Approach to Capacity Evaluation

Current approaches that define capacity in cognitive terms disregard concerns that emotional instability may disrupt capacity or that a person may be cognitively intact yet lack the capacity to give a valid consent. An alternative evaluative approach would be to view capacity holistically, as a combination of biological, psychological, and social (biopsychosocial) factors.

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What is the Consent and Capacity Board?

Capacity is a key component of estate litigation, especially in guardianship and attorneyship disputes. Questions of when someone has begun acting as an attorney for property and whether a person had the requisite capacity to designate a party as their attorney are some of the ways this issue plays out….

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Update on MAiD: Mental Disorder as a Sole Underlying Medical Condition

In Canada, the law no longer restricts medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people whose death is reasonably foreseeable: as of March 17, 2023, people with a mental disorder as a sole underlying medical condition (MD-SUMC) will be eligible for MAiD.

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Powers of Attorney: Whose Decision Is It Anyway?

This Blog was written by: Alicia Mossington (Godin), Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotia Wealth Management Is your caregiver the best person to make financial and property related decisions for you? Should these roles be filled by different people with unique skill sets? Will your caregiver respect the input and decisions of…

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Dementia, Health Law and Discharge Planning Challenges

A clinical dilemma: a patient was diagnosed with dementia in the mild-to-moderate stage requested to be discharged home from hospital to live alone despite the opinion of the attorney for personal care and property that the patient is unsafe to do so. The clinical opinion was also that the patient…

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