Читать книгу Protect Your Elderly Parents - Lynne Butler - Страница 33

This arrangement is appropriate where the dependent adult who signs an agreement is not in need of a full guardianship or trusteeship because he or she retains some ability to deal with his or her own affairs, but some help is needed. The person who assists the dependent adult under a Supported Representation Agreement is called an associate decision-maker. You can see from the title given to this person that the agreement is intended to foster co-operative, joint decisions, as opposed to having a guardian or trustee alone make the decisions he or she thinks are appropriate. The associate decision-maker’s duties are to assist the dependent adult in making decisions, expressing decisions, obtaining information, and discussing possible outcomes with the dependent adult.

The associate decision-maker may have the authority to deal with personal and health-care decisions normally associated with guardianship or financial decisions normally associated with trusteeship, or both.

This arrangement is much less intrusive to the dependent adult than a full guardianship or trusteeship. Signing a Supported Decision-Making Agreement would ensure that the dependent adult would retain the ability to make decisions and obtain information, but the assisting person would obtain the legal status to assist the dependent adult.