B.C. to change assessments for incapable adults who need public guardians

VICTORIA – The B.C. government is promising to change the way assessments are made of people who are unable to handle their own financial affairs and require a public guardian.

Justice Minister Shirley Bond says the government will take immediate action on 12 of 14 recommendations made in a recent report by B.C.’s ombudsperson and will review others.

She says the government wants a modern and effective system of adult guardianship that balances the need for protecting individual autonomy with the need to protect people against abuse.

Bond says the government will implement most of the recommendations before July of 2014 with new legislation.

She says the legislation will ensure that certain standards are followed during the process of determining whether an adult is incapable of handling their own affairs.

Those standards will including having a medical assessment conducted by a doctor and giving advance notice to an adult and their family if a finding of incapacity is made.