In legal terms, a Committee is the name given to the person (or group of people) appointed by a court. This individual is entrusted with the responsibility of managing the personal affairs of another person, or another person’s property, because that person has been determined to be incapable of managing him or herself, his or her property, or both.
You might want to be a Committee if one of your family members, or close friends, has lost the mental capacity to make important decisions and you want to help.
Appointing a Committee takes away a person’s right to decide things for themselves and should be considered a last resort .
Appointing a Person as a Committee in British Columbia
To become a Committee, you must apply to the Supreme Court of BC to be appointed by an order under the Patients Property Act.
Before you apply, you have to know whether the person is mentally incapable.
Anyone who suffers from a mental illness or handicap, a head injury, a degenerative disease, or some other kind of disability, may not be able to make decisions about their personal, medical, financial, or legal affairs. They may be unable to decide anything (including where and how to live), may lose track of bank accounts, forget to pay bills, or be taken advantage of by dishonest people.
To figure this out, you can talk to the person’s doctor. If the doctor believes the person can’t manage their affairs, or themselves, then you can see a lawyer.
When you need help in the area of Committeeship for your loved one, when insanity or mental disability prevents them from making sound decisions regarding their personal and financial affairs, contact the law office of John L. Randall by calling 604-510-0480.