(MENAFNEditorial)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vancouver B.C. March 28 2016; The Law Firm of is pleased to announce that Murray Wolf was successful in a petition filed before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. In a case decided on March 16 2016 Mr. Wolf represented the (the PGT) in a legal guardianship (known as committeeship) matter.
The case before the Honourable Mr. Justice Thompson involved an application filed by the PGT seeking an order to rescind the appointment of the respondent wife (known as KM) as the committee of the estate of her husband (known as VM) who had previously been declared incapable of managing his own affairs because he suffered from dementia. VM lived in an assisted living facility and KM continued to live in the family home.
At issue was KM’s obligation to provide an accounting to the PGT of certain expenditures of VM’s funds prior to her appointment as committee and her ability to account for her expenditures as her husband’s committee. A second issue was KM’s claim that as VM’s wife she was entitled to use VM’s funds for her own support.
The Court’s March 16 2016 Ruling provides in part as follows:
“I see applications to remove a trustee and applications to rescind a committee’s appointment as closely analogous. In the former case the focus is on the beneficiaries’ welfare; in the latter it is in the best interests of the patient’s estate. Not every mistake or error should result in the rescission of committee’s appointment. In my opinion there are sufficient grounds to rescind a committee’s appointment if the committee’s acts or omissions are (1) shown to endanger the patient’s estate; or (2) show a want of honesty or reasonable fidelity or proper capacity to execute the duties of a committee…”
Although the Court determined that KM did not provide a proper accounting of certain funds she had removed from her VM’s accounts using a power of attorney he also found that the evidence did not establish that she had endangered her husband’s estate. The omission of failing to tender the accounting however demonstrated that KM had shown the lack of proper capacity to execute the duties of committee. As a result the Courtconcluded that the appointment of KM as the committee of her husband’s estate must be rescinded and the PGT appointed in her place.
Justice Thompson’s decision is also important because he held that the Patients Property Act the statute that sets the rules for the administration of incapable persons’ estates allows a committee to make payments from an incapable person’s estate to support that patient’s spouse and in fact the committee may be obliged to make those payments if there are sufficient funds to both provide for the patient’s care and the spouse’s needs.
The at McLarty Wolf handle committeeship applications disputes involving Representation Agreements and Powers of Attorney other cases involving financial elder abuse and estate litigation. If you or a loved one need legal representation in one of these matter contact the lawyers at McLarty Wolf today at 604-688-9542.
Contact:
McLarty Wolf
1414-808 Nelson Street
Vancouver BC
V6Z 2H2
604-688-9542
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