Claude Chamberland, lawyer
Life, alas, often places a person we love in a vulnerable situation. Whether it is a child with an autism spectrum disorder, a spouse suddenly struck by a stroke, an aging parent gradually losing their autonomy to a varying degree, each situation is unique and would require special supervision.
You may have noticed the excellent information campaign sponsored for a few months by the writer Kim Thúy about the upcoming adoption (June 2022) of a new law aimed at better protecting people in vulnerable situations and which would make Quebec one of the most advanced companies in the field.
The current law established three levels of protection for people and property: curatorship, tutorship and counselor which, in practice, was of little use. The new law simplifies and personalizes the assistance by keeping for a person in a situation of incapacity only the guardianship regime, which can now be modified to take into account the specific needs of the person and their particular situation.
Thus, the court that assesses a case will have to render a decision attributing as much residual powers as possible to a person whose incapacity it finds. The file can be revised at any time on simple proof of a change in situation. However, the most revolutionary change of the new law is the creation of the function of assistant, which will be recorded in a national public register allowing to avoid the multiplication of requests for powers of attorney of all kinds by each service provider to which the citizen has. business: employer, healthcare establishment, landlord, telecommunications operator, etc.
The assistance measure will not require the intervention of a court and will allow a person experiencing difficulty to be helped in certain situations by one or two assistants of their own choosing.
In addition, it will not be necessary to demonstrate a disability to acquire an assistant. Through a single process, the assistant will be officially recognized by all third parties (companies, ministries and bodies, professionals, etc.) as the intermediary of the assisted person.
Thus, once appointed, any person with a particular interest in someone who needs an assistant will be able to act as an intermediary for them, have access to information in their file, advise the person assisted and communicate with third parties in order to obtain and convey information or decisions.
From now on, it will therefore suffice for the person who wishes to be assisted or his legal representative to make a request (online or on paper) to the Public Curator in a form provided for this purpose, providing an identity document and a summary statement of his assets.
The proposed assistant, for his part, will also need to provide identification and a declaration of absence of conflict of interest. Subsequently, the Public Curator will verify that the proposed assistant does not have a criminal history, he will notify the request to at least two relatives of the assisted person and will process notices of opposition from these relatives if applicable.
Finally, he will meet individually with the person wishing to be assisted and the proposed assistant, then he will meet with them together, render his decision, communicate it to those concerned and enter the name of the assistant in the Register if the meeting is successful.