IMPORTANT CHANGES TO INCAPACITY PLANNING STATUTES EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

The law in British Columbia provides a number of ways for individuals to plan for the loss of capacity by making important decisions about their health care, financial affairs, or other important personal matters.

There have been a number of important changes to incapacity planning statutes in BC effective September 1, 2011 (the "Amendments"). These changes need to be understood and considered before the use of incapacity planning documents.

The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of some of the changes to incapacity planning law in BC and to provide general information on the main types of incapacity planning documents, namely: Powers of Attorney, Advance Directives for health care, and Representation Agreements for health care and financial affairs.

If you do not create these documents while you have capacity, someone may have to undertake an expensive and time consuming application to court for a court order allowing them to manage your financial or legal affairs and, in some cases, to make health care decisions on your behalf.

We strongly recommend that legal advice be sought with respect to the matters and documents discussed in these articles, especially given the important changes that came into effect on September 1, 2011.