The court has the authority under the Substitute Decisions Act to appoint a guardian for property. However, does the court have the authority to appoint a temporary guardian for property? According to the decision in Ballinger v. Marshall, 2018 ONSC 3020, the answer is Yes.
In Ballinger, Ms. Marshall’s son applied for a declaration that Ms. Marshall was incapable of managing property and personal care, and for an order appointing himself as her guardian for property and personal care.
In an interim order, the court ordered that Ms. Marshall be assessed. The court also ordered that counsel be appointed by the Public Guardian and Trustee to represent Ms. Marshall (“s. 3 counsel”).
Ms. Marshall refused to be assessed. A further motion was brought to compel Ms. Marshall to be assessed, which order was granted. Still, Ms. Marshall still refused to be assessed.
The court considered s. 25 of the Substitute Decisions Act, which sets out what may be contained in an order appointing a guardian. Section 25 provides that an order appointing a guardian for a person must include a finding that the person is incapable of managing property. Further, the court may make the appointment for a limited period as the court considers appropriate, and impose such conditions as the court considers appropriate.
The court held that this gives the court jurisdiction to make a temporary order. Support for this was found in the Divisional Court decision of Bennett v. Gotlibowicz, 2009 CanLII 33031 (ON SCDC).
In Bennett, a court-ordered assessment concluded that the person was incapable. In Marshall, there was no such assessment evidence: due to Ms. Marshall’s refusal to undergo an assessment. The court was, however, able to rely on the son’s observations with respect to his mother’s behavior to come to a conclusion that, on a balance of probabilities, Ms. Marshall did not have capacity to manage her property.
The son was appointed as guardian. However, the guardianship was only a temporary one, until:
- Ms. Marshall participates in a capacity assessment and the capacity assessment is returned to the court for consideration;
- the matter is returned to the court for further directions; or
- November 15, 2018.
The court also gave specific direction with respect to what the guardian could do with Ms. Marshall’ property. He was to sell her house, and pay her debts. The proceeds of the sale, after the payment of debts, was to be held in a law firm’s trust account pending the further order of the court. The son had proposed that an affordable condominium be purchased for Ms. Marshal as alternative accommodation. However, the court did not allow for this, stating that “I believe that it is best that this process proceed slowly”.
Have a great weekend.