Guardianship Planning
Speak to a lawyer about Guardianship planning from the comfort of your home. We bring legal expertise to you in the most convenient and affordable way.
Adult Guardians for Personal Care
When an adult is no longer capable of making financial or personal care decisions, their family may need court-appointed authority to be their guardian of property or personal care. The adult guardian is court-appointed when someone who is mentally incapable doesn’t have a POA to represent their interests and can’t express their personal preferences for day-to-day affairs like paying bills.
Adult guardians are substitute decision-makers on health care, housing, safety, nutrition, hygiene, and even clothing for the person they represent. Unless it is impossible, the guardian must respect any advance directives or wishes the person expressed when they were capable, such as not being resuscitated in case of life-threatening illness or injury.
How It Works
01
Book Your Appointment
Click on ‘Get Started’ button to submit a request to meet with the Lawyer. Our customer care team will reach out to you within minutes to book your appointment.
02
Submit Your Documents
On the day of your appointment, our lawyer will verify your identification and walk you through the intake process where they confirm your contact information.
03
Draft Your Will With A Lawyer
Our lawyer will ask you a series of questions regarding your executor, beneficiaries, and make a note of your wishes before drafting a Will accordingly.
04
Execute Your Will With A Lawyer
Our lawyer will cross-check each page of the Will with you and if you are happy with the draft, the Will is signed and executed by the lawyer on the same day.
Documents We Need
We offer a number of affordable options to give you peace of mind in knowing that your family will be taken care of the way you want. Bring the following for your online video conference (anywhere in Ontario) or in-person meeting at our Greater Toronto Area law offices:
Axess Law will ask you for two pieces of ID. Proving your identity is obligatory to prevent fraud. You may use either two pieces of primary ID or one primary and one secondary ID. These include:
- Driver’s license
- Canadian passport
- Ontario photo card
- Canadian citizenship card with photo
- PR card with photo
Our lawyers will ask to see records of any existing debts that you may have. These would include debts such as car loans, mortgages, or student loans.
When drafting a cohabitation agreement, bring us your personal statement of assets. This would include documents such as stocks, investments, or real estate deeds.
When booking an appointment, our team will make a note of your contact information. This would include your name, email address, and telephone number.
It is wise to carry health documents when meeting with your Wills lawyer to apply for adult guardianship. You can receive an assessment from a healthcare professional.
What is Guardianship Planning?
Do you need guardianship if you have power of attorney (POA)? No, because a POA is created while an adult is capable of making decisions, but wants assistance managing day-to-day affairs like paying bills or is planning ahead for a day when they could be incapacitated. POA appointments are based on choice. Guardians are court appointed when someone who is mentally incapable doesn’t have a POA to represent their interests and can’t express their personal preferences.
Who Can Be a Guardian?
Any adult over 18 with the person’s interests at heart can make a guardianship application. Although trust companies can be appointed, usually a guardian is a loved one or friend who is trustworthy, has a close relationship with them and can manage finances responsibly. Courts or the OPGT hear from spouses, relatives or friends and the person can speak on their own behalf or have a lawyer do so. If you are unsure you are doing the right thing, you can ask for someone to be assessed, provided they don’t have a POA and don’t object. If you decide after the fact that you prefer not to be guardian, you can resign.
Your Legal Obligations as Guardian
As guardian, you are expected to act in the person’s best interests and give them the best quality of life possible. It’s your legal obligation to:
Separate finances to prevent intermingling assets
Keep accurate records of decisions
Pay legitimate bills, debts, and legal obligations they can afford
File and pay taxes
What Our Customers Say About Us
We worked with Jaz for setting up our Will and POA. He is very knowledgeable and answered our questions with patience and understanding.
★★★★★ 5/5
It was a smooth and painless experience. Very quick and to the point. Would highly recommend this to anyone needing a will or estate planning.
★★★★★ 5/5
My brother and I got our wills done during the free Oct Will month. We got excellent service by Pratheeb Uthayakumar, Marc Marcos and Nicole. Very professional, efficient and responsive. I recommend them to all. Thank you Axess.
★★★★★ 5/5
This was such a no brainer for us. We did 2 wills and Powers of Attorney in under 2 hours. Of course it was relatively basic as they do not do foreign and tax and estate work.
★★★★★ 5/5
My wife and I utilized Axess Law for creating our mirror wills and POAs. The process was extremely efficient and simple. Being able to do the initial meeting virtually is also extremely helpful. The entire meeting took just over an hour for both my wife and I. It was then about another 30 minutes to actually go to their office to get the documents signed and witnessed.
★★★★★ 5/5
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Convenient Appointments
Make an appointment by calling +1.877.402.4207 or fill out our online booking form. Axess Law gives you the choice of booking an online or in-person appointment. Our lawyers are available 7 days a week, at times convenient for you. We can meet in person, by phone, email, or via a remote video call. In addition to these, there are 5 Axess Law offices located across the Greater Toronto Area – all with onsite parking or easily accessible by public transit.
Some FAQs
An adult guardian is court-appointed when someone who is mentally incapable doesn’t have a power of attorney to represent their interests and can’t express their personal preferences.
Adult guardians for personal care are substitute decision-makers on health care, housing, safety, nutrition, hygiene, and even clothing for the person they represent.
Adult guardians for property manage a person’s assets, pensions, investments, real estate, and personal property such as vehicles or furniture. They are responsible for anything that affects the person’s finances, except making a personal Will.
An adult over 18 years of age with the said person’s interests at heart can make a guardianship application. In some cases, trust companies are also appointed. However, a guardian is most commonly a loved one or friend who is trustworthy, has a close relationship with the person, and can manage finances responsibly.
As a guardian, you are expected to act in the person’s best interests and give them the best quality of life possible.
It’s your legal obligation to:
- separate your own and the person’s finances to prevent intermingling assets
- keep accurate records of decisions
- pay legitimate bills, debts, and legal obligations they can afford
- manage assets prudently to provide a good return without excessive risk
- collect income and benefits, such as pensions and GST refunds
- file and pay taxes
- and involve the incapable person in decisions as much as possible or consult with family, friends, and caregivers about their finances or care.