I blogged on the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee’s Guardianship Investigations Unit, and the OPGT power to bring an application for a temporary guardianship under certain circumstances earlier this week. In The Public Guardian and Trustee v. Willis et al, 2020 ONSC 3660, the OPGT brought an application for Andrew Willis to pass his accounts with respect to his management of his mother’s Ruth Irene Willis’ property, and for an order that the OPGT be appointed as Mrs. Willis’ temporary guardian of property which would replace Andrew Willis as Mrs. Willis’ POA.
Mrs. Willis suffers from moderate to severe dementia and she lives in MacKenzie Place Nursing Home. Mrs. Willis is a widow and Andrew is her only living child. Mrs. Willis’ only asset is her home in Richmond Hill. There are four mortgages registered against the home, which total $3.35M. However, according to the last appraisal, the home was only estimated to be worth $2.8M after various renovations are complete. The extent of the mortgages and Andrew’s role in arranging them, and as a personal guarantor in the event of Mrs. Willis’ default, was the basis for the OPGT’s accounting request.
What led to the OPGT to seek to replace Andrew as Mrs. Willis’ substitute decision maker was serious enough to convince the Court:
- Andrew was found to be consumed by the home renovations when Mrs. Willis’ basic living expenses at the nursing home were left unpaid. The Court was particularly concerned that,
“Andrew does not do what he says he will do. He made many promises to MacKenzie Place to pay his mother’s arrears but did not. There are still arrears owing of $15,000. Andrew has not made his mother’s needs a priority. As a result, his mother is living in a ward with other residents in a facility which has experienced COVID-19 cases and with minimal services. Mrs. Willis’ quality of life must be improved.”
- Willis also owes unpaid taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency. Her only bank account was found to have been used for Andrew’s personal expenses, such as his Granite Club fees, groceries, gas, alcohol, hockey equipment and his child support payments before the account was frozen by RBC.
- Despite Andrew’s efforts in listing the property for sale, the only offer that Andrew had received was less than the total mortgages.
- Andrew had also failed to make an application for survivor’s pension to increase Mrs. Willis’ monthly income.
The Court ultimately gave Andrew another 1.5 months to sell the house as Mrs. Willis’ attorney for property before the OPGT takes over regardless of whether the home has sold. If you are interested in learning more about Willis, click here for Rebecca Rauws’ blog on the accounting aspects of this case.
Thanks for reading!