All About Estates

Category: Power of Attorney

Total 127 Posts

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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Gefen Estate v. Gefen

The Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) decision in Gefen Estate v. Gefen is an interesting read which provides insight into a variety of topics including mutual wills and mutual will agreements, secret trusts, the doctrine of unconscionable procurement, and more! By way of background, Elias and Henia Gefen were married…

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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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An Elder Care Planning Framework for Decision Making, Part 2

This blog post on the Elder Care Planning Framework for Decision Making, Part 2, is based on a panel presentation at Elder Law Day in Toronto in March 2023. Participants expressed an interest in using the elder care planning framework to provide context for decision-making and planning. Part 1 proposed…

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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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Proposing an Elder Care Planning Framework for Decision Making

The Elder Care Planning Framework In March 2023, I was a panellist at the Ontario Bar Association’s Elder Law Day, where Dr. Richard Shulman and I spoke about decision-making capacity. In preparing our presentation, we developed this tool to aid in planning decision-making for elder care management and related financial,…

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Implementing Powers of Attorney for Personal Care: Game Changers for Managing Care

Medicine can do many things but at the end of life what matters most is not necessarily treatment but making peace with yourself on your terms. Atul Gawande, Being Mortal. Advanced care planning is an evolving process where individuals outline their wishes regarding their care and medical decision-making based on…

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The Caregiver Crisis in Canada and How to Navigate It

The Caregiver Crisis in Canada Have you attended a social event lately with people aged 40 to 60? Often described as the ‘sandwich generation,’ they try to care for older family or friends while working full-time, coping with busy family lives, and raising children. No doubt the conversation will turn…

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January is Alzheimers Awareness Month

Happy New Year. It was a busy start of the new year as families were eager to connect, speak with an expert, learn and gather information. As January is also Alzheimers Awareness Month, I thought I would share how my first week in January 2023 was spent with several new…

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