Читать книгу Protect Your Elderly Parents - Lynne Butler - Страница 5

If you are reading this book, you are most likely in the following situation:

• It has become clear to you that an elderly parent needs assistance of some kind, whether it is with personal- and/or health-care matters, financial matters, or both personal and financial matters.

• None of the alternatives such as home care, power of attorney, or Health Care Directives discussed in Chapter 3 are suitable for the elderly relative in question.

• You have decided that the court system, though it is a last resort, is the best choice right now for the elderly relative in question.

This chapter will help you clarify the difference between a guardian and trustee. A person may apply to the court to be appointed as a guardian or a trustee, or both. This book will consider guardianship and trusteeship to be two different roles, even though one person can, and often does, do both jobs at once. If you are applying for both, you only have to make one application. Chapter 2 will help you understand which role is suitable for your elderly relative.

The main difference between guardianship and trusteeship lies in the type of decisions that must be made by the person who is appointed. The type of decisions that need to be made will depend on the unique situation and needs of the person who is being protected. For example, some elderly adults can live on their own reasonably well but cannot manage their finances, while others are just the opposite. The elderly person being protected will be referred to as a “dependent adult” in this book because he or she is an adult who is now becoming dependent on others for assistance.

In provincial and territorial statutes, the person who is in need of assistance is referred to by different names. In order to make it easier for you to read and understand your own local laws, use Table 1 to determine what such a person is properly called in your province or territory.