Introduction to Managing Someone Else's Money

From Clicklaw Wikibooks

In a power of attorney, a person can authorize someone else—their attorney—to take care of financial and legal matters for them.

If you've been appointed as an attorney under a power of attorney, Managing Someone Else's Money is for you. This guide will help you understand what you can and cannot do in your role as an attorney. It offers tips to help you avoid problems, tools to help you stay organized, and resources for finding more information.

Copyright & disclaimer

  Managing Someone Else's Money, © People’s Law School is, except for the images, made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

At People's Law School, we believe accurate, plain English information can help people take action to work out their legal problems. This publication explains in a general way the law that applies in British Columbia, Canada. It is not intended as legal advice. Legal advice applies the law to an individual's specific situation. If you want assurance that any information is appropriate to your specific situation, or recommendations on next steps with a specific legal problem, please contact a legal professional. Some sources of legal help are highlighted in the Where to Get Help section.

Contributors & acknowledgements

Writer

This publication was written by Kevin Smith, adapted from a guide from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

 
Kevin Smith, Barrister & Solicitor
Kevin Smith is a retired lawyer, having worked for several years with Seniors First BC (formerly BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support) in Vancouver. A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, he has an LLM in Elder Law from the Center for Excellence in Elder Law at Stetson University. Prior to joining Seniors First BC, he worked as a legal aid lawyer in Ontario for 30 years, including as the Clinic Director of Parkdale Community Legal Services, a community clinic associated with Osgoode. His work with Seniors First BC focused on elder abuse matters including financial abuse and financial exploitation, capacity issues, issues in seniors housing and residential care, and pension appeals.



Acknowledgments

 
Image via www.istock.com

This publication was adapted from a guide prepared by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau working closely with the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging.

This publication was made possible through the financial support of the Law Foundation of BC, the Notary Foundation of BC, the Department of Justice Canada, and the Province of British Columbia.

Writing, editing and layout support was provided by Drew Jackson and Elena Renderos. Seniors First BC contributed support and enthusiasm for the project.

About People's Law School

 
People's Law School is a non-profit society in British Columbia, Canada dedicated to making the law accessible to everyone. We provide free education and information to help people effectively deal with the legal problems of daily life.

Contact us at info@peopleslawschool.ca or visit us online at www.peopleslawschool.ca.