Including divorce, separation agreements, cohabitation agreements & other common-law relationship matters, custody & other parenting matters, adoption
Including incorporations & other business structuring, shareholder agreements, annual returns
Including sales & purchase, mortgage & other financing, land development
Guardianship & Trusteeship
This area of law deals with the needs of adults who require assistance in making their own day-to-day living, health, or financial decisions. Some adults become incapacitated through accidents, illness or old age. Other scenarios involve individuals with developmental disabilities who grow into adulthood. In either case, Adult Guardianship & Trusteeship involves the legal appointment of someone to responsibly make decisions concerning the dependent adult’s affairs. This must be done through application to the court for an Adult Guardian Order or an Adult Trustee Order.
Guardianship — A Guardian is empowered to make certain decisions on behalf of a represented adult. Depending on the situation, this might include the adult’s participation in certain activities, consent regarding health care, and where the represented adult will live. Guardians cannot make decisions about anything related to financial matters unless they are also appointed as a Trustee of the represented adult. It is fairly typical for a Guardian to also be appointed Trustee of the represented adult.
As a rule, the Court of Queen’s Bench will appoint a relative or close friend who is familiar with the adult in question as the Guardian. If, however, there is no close friend, family member, or other interested party who is appropriate or willing to take on this responsibility, legislation allows for the appointment of the Public Guardian (an office of the Provincial Government) to do so.
Trusteeship — A Trustee’s powers are limited ONLY to making decisions regarding the represented adult’s financial matters. The roles of a Trustee may involve the signing of contracts, managing apartment and nursing home leases, keeping track of all income and expenses and to prepare appropriate tax returns as they are due. It is generally a requirement that the Trustee provide an accounting of trust records for Court approval from time to time. The frequency of these Court reviews depends on the particulars of each case and, in some circumstances, it may be possible to reduce or eliminate this requirement.
At Martinson & Harder, those practicing in this field are:
Including preparation and/or review of offers, mortgage & other financing
Including incorporations & other business structuring, shareholder agreements, annual returns
Including review or preparation of contracts
Including sales & purchase, mortgage & other financing, land development
Including collections, builders’ liens, personal injury, contractual, landlord/tenant, insurance
Including preparation and/or review of offers, mortgage & other financing
Including preparation of Wills, Powers of Attorney & Personal Directives
Including sales & purchase of land, mortgage & other financing, land development
Including review or preparation of contracts
Including planning prior to a death and probate and all other matters relating to management of affairs following a death
Including collections, builders’ liens, contractual, commercial landlord/tenant, insurance
Including review or preparation of contracts for oil & gas access, grazing, farmland
Implementing various methods of protecting personal & business assets from creditors
Including matters of abuse & exploitation and maintenance of autonomy
Including purchase, sale or lease
Including management of company assets & liabilities within estate planning, but also involves transition planning for company duties & responsibilities
Including collections, contractual, landlord/tenant and any other operational disputes
Including all financial & personal care matters relating to dependent adults
Including proper employment & dismissal practices, contracting, labour code matters
Implementing various methods of protecting personal & farm assets from creditors
Including wrongful dismissal, other contractual matters, labour code issues
Including management of farm assets & liabilities within estate planning, but also involves transition planning for duties & responsibilities within the farm company
Implementing various methods of protecting personal assets from creditors
Official validation of documents
Official validation of documents
Including proper employment & dismissal practices, contracting, labour code matters
Official validation of documents