BC Moves to Allow Remote Witnessing of Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Representation Agreements

For hundreds of years in common-law jurisdictions around the world, a will-maker has been required to sign their will in the physical presence of the witnesses and the witnesses have been required to sign the will in the presence of the will-maker. Similar requirements have generally been applicable to the execution of Powers of Attorney and documents that allow one to appoint someone to make health and personal care decisions (a “Representation Agreement” in BC).

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Deemed Consent to Psychiatric Treatment in BC

In BC a person may be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility under the Mental Health Act (“MHA”), and treated without any need to obtain consent, if a doctor is of the opinion that the person “has a disorder of the mind that requires treatment and seriously impairs the person’s ability to react appropriately to…

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Section 7 Representation Agreements – Substitute Decision Makers for Health and Personal Care in British Columbia

In British Columbia, if one has become incapable of making one’s own health or personal care decisions but still wishes to appoint someone to make such decisions on one’s behalf, one may be able do so by creating a representation agreement in accordance with Section 7 of the Representation Agreement Act (a “Section 7 RA”).…

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Representation Agreements – Choosing Who Can Choose

In British Columbia, you can appoint someone with the authority to make health and personal care decisions for you in the event that you are unable to do so. You can do this by creating a document known as a representation agreement.   A representation agreement (“RA”) allows you to explicitly grant this authority to…

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