Legal
​Health

Hot Tip for Legal Safety!

Seniors Helping Seniors -  
free workshops on essential legal steps:
- advance care planning,
- representation agreements,
- power of attorney
and other topics. 

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Family Law  in BC ​

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• General Life Events BC gov pages
• ​BCeID - personal online account with BC government, allowing access to various services (hunting, fishing, birth/death/and other documents)
• Find a BC notary or lawyer
  • Notaries
  • Lawyers
• Online legal resources (BC Law Society)
• DIY with help, to reduce costs   Unbundling Legal Services 
• Tenant Survival Guide
• Trustee law and care​​

Birth

• BC - birth documents

​Marriage/Divorce in BC

• BC - marriage documents
• Sudden marriage breakdown what-to-do checklist
• Separation agreement
• ​​ Joint divorce by agreement (online form)​
• DIY divorce with specified legal help   Unbundling Legal Services

Family Safety

• Child/Youth Services
• Senior/Elder Abuse/Neglect BC

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Wills and Estates

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Medical Planning​

• How to start: NIDUS booklet
• "It's Your Choice" booklet
• BC Gov - 
  • Advance care planning BC
  • "No CPR" form (BC)
  • MOST (Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment) - Interior Health form
• COSCO
  • "Seniors Helping Seniors" workshops
  • Advance Care planning resources
• ​Cancer.ca - Advance Care Planning
• Public Trustee services BC
• ​Personal Planning Tools booklet
• What if you don't have friends or family support?  Washington Post article
• Incapacity Planning - BC forms:
  • Representation Agreement 
  • Enduring Power of Attorney
  • Advanced Care directive
  • Medical Orders for Standard of Treatment (MOST)
• "Options to Consider" chart, Interior Health

Wills

• Have your Will properly created (not hand written or just verbal promises) and update every 5 years and make sure you have a competent executor named.
• Consumer Protection BC - end-of-life decisions
• Planning for the Future - Cancer.ca
• To do before you/they die (ASAP!)
• Beacon Law Centre info page on wills
• Make a good file of information for your executor  (accounts, credit cards, passwords, inventory, keys, etc.)
• What if you don't have friends or family support?  Washington Post article
• The Blunt Bean Counter - Executor blogs
  • Speak to your Executor
  • So you want to be an executor
  • You have been named an executor, now what?
  • Is a Corporate executor the right choice?

Estate Planning​

• Beacon Law Centre - article

Executor Resources

• After a Death: What to Do When Someone Dies -  BC gov, with checklist


• TaxTips.ca BC resources
• ​A Death in Your Family - what to do and list of resources
• Writing an Obituary
• Executor duties -
  • What to know before becoming an executor - Investopedia
  • Executors Proceed Cautiously Beacon Law Centre article
  • Being an Executor People's Law School booklet
  • TB Vets "How to Be an Executor" booklet

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Keeping Records

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Keep in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box:

• Birth certificate
• Family birth/death documentation
• Social Insurance card​
• Passports
• Permits - driver, gun owner, etc.
• education credentials
• Land title/lease
• marriage/divorce documents
• pre-nuptial agreements
• firearms documents
• employment/severance records 
• contracts
• Wills (not in "safety deposit box" as it may be sealed on death, but a copy with a note about who has the original.)
• list of valuables (jewelry, artwork, collections, etc.) with sales slips or valuation documents.
• sales receipts for large purchases (auto, ATV, trailer, etc.) for warrantee or loss.

An extra step would be to photograph or scan these and keep the digital record in a different location.

Financial Records

• income tax documents and notices of assessment (current and previous 6  years)​​
• vehicle purchase records
• land titles and mortgage records

Inventory:

• Valuables - list, receipts, location (put a copy with your will, update as needed)
• Vehicle warrantees
• appliance receipts, warrantees
•  digital photos of all rooms, closets, outbuildings, sports gear, RV, etc. for insurance claims

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