Representation agreements in British Columbia

Any adult who wants to choose who speaks for them, rather than have the choice made by a default list. There are two kinds. A standard agreement covers routine personal and health care decisions and some day-to-day financial management, and can be made by someone whose capacity is already reduced. An enhanced agreement covers the serious decisions: major health care, refusing life-supporting treatment, where and with whom you live, and admission to a care facility. Most people making one while they are well make the enhanced kind and pair it with an enduring power of attorney.

1. 01Take your instructions on your own, and settle which kind of agreement you need.
2. 02Choose your representative and an alternate, and settle how they act if there is more than one. A representative has to be an adult and cannot be somebody paid to care for you unless they are also family.
3. 03Go through the scope of authority decision by decision: routine care, major care, where you live, admission to a facility, refusing or stopping life support, and the arrangements for anyone who depends on you. Each is a separate grant and the agreement lists them.
4. 04Decide whether to name a monitor, whose role is to check that the representative is doing what the agreement says, and whether you want one at all.
5. 05Record your wishes about care, either in the agreement or in a separate advance directive that health providers act on directly, so your representative is applying your instructions rather than guessing at them.
6. 06Decide when it takes effect: as soon as it is signed, or only once you can no longer make the decision yourself.
7. 07Supervise the signing. The representative signs a certificate accepting the role, the witnesses have their own requirements, and an agreement that misses one of them is not an agreement.

• Two pieces of government-issued identificationOne has to carry your photograph. Bring them to the meeting.
• Your representative's full legal name, address and contact detailsAnd the same for an alternate. The representative has to sign, so we need to be able to reach them.
• Any representation agreement, power of attorney or advance directive you already haveA new agreement does not automatically replace an old one.
• Your decisions on the serious questionsLife support, admission to a care facility, where you would want to live, anything you would never consent to. The questionnaire asks each one, and we go through anything you are unsure of at the meeting.
• Anything about your health or your family that affects how it will be usedOnly as much as you want to tell us. A diagnosis, a family member who should be involved or should not, a faith requirement.