Many people are researching and seeking the solution for claiming the Certificate of Birth/Birth Certificate trust. One of the theories is that we have not claimed it so they have.
If they have claimed it which office would do that…. “Public Guardian and Trustee” me thinks.
Check out your local jurisdiction to see if you have one. One test run at the local office looks promising.
B.C.: The Public Guardian and Trustee
The Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) is a corporation sole established under the Public Guardian and Trustee Act with a unique statutory role to protect the interests of British Columbians who lack legal capacity to protect their own interests. The mandate of the PGT is to:
- Protect the legal and financial interests of children under the age of 19 years;
- Protect the legal, financial, personal and health care interests of adults who require assistance in decision making; and
- Administer the estates of deceased and missing persons.
The Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) can administer an estate when the executor, intestate successor, beneficiary or other eligible person is not able or willing to do so.
Curatorship of Missing Persons
The Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) acts as curator for persons who are missing as defined in the Estates of Missing Persons Act. The PGT is appointed curator in all cases except where the court decides that the appointment of another individual would be more desirable by reason of the business or personal relationship of that individual to the missing person, or any other circumstance the court considers sufficient.
The role of curator is to manage the adult’s property until they are located or until the funds are paid into court for safekeeping.
Referral FORM – NOTE – SURNAME, Given Name – Birth date
RELEVANT B.C. Acts
PUBLIC GUARDIAN AND TRUSTEE ACT [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 383 – LINK
ESTATES OF MISSING PERSONS ACT [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 123 – LINK
TRUSTEE ACT [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 464 – LINK
“business authorization” has the same meaning as in the Financial Institutions Act;
“deposit business” has the same meaning as in the Financial Institutions Act;
“trust business” has the same meaning as in the Financial Institutions Act.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ACT [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 141 LINK
“business authorization” means an authorization to carry on
(d) both trust business and deposit business,
issued under Division 1 of Part 3 to a financial institution, under Division 1 of Part 6 to an extraprovincial corporation or under Division 5 of Part 6 to a society described in section 191;
“deposit business” means the business of receiving on deposit or soliciting for deposit money that is repayable
(c) on the expiry of a specified term, or
(d) at specified intervals for a specified term,
whether or not the person undertaking an activity or activities set out in paragraphs (a) to (d) can or does distribute any gain, profit or dividend, or otherwise disposes of the person’s assets, to a member or shareholder of the person other than during winding up or on dissolution;
“trust business” means the business of providing or offering to provide services to the public as
(a) trustee, executor or administrator,
(b) guardian of a minor’s estate,
(c) committee, under the Patients Property Act, of the estate of a person with a mental disorder,
(d) attorney under Part 2 of the Power of Attorney Act, or
(e) representative granted power over an adult’s financial affairs under section 7 (1) (b) of the Representation Agreement Act,
whether or not the person undertaking an activity or activities set out in paragraphs (a) to (e) can or does distribute any gain, profit or dividend, or otherwise disposes of the person’s assets, to a member or shareholder of the person other than during winding up or on dissolution;
PST And Trust Property Bulletin LINK
B.C. public guardian accused of abusing rights
Last months of elderly woman’s life made miserable by agency: friends
By Amanda Stutt special to , CBC News Posted: Jul 09, 2009 4:05 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/b-c-public-guardian-accused-of-abusing-rights-1.835704
…. Hall hoped the agency would freeze Scholnick’s account to keep it from happening again. But instead, the Public Guardian took control of Scholnick’s affairs, emptying all but $50 out of her accounts and informing Hall that her power of attorney had been revoked.
“It should be noted that you did not take measures to protect the finances of Mrs. Scholnick in enacting your role as power of attorney and instead sought remedy by calling our office,” Public Guardian regional manager Colleen Koch wrote in a letter to Hall.
Hall began a letter writing campaign to the public guardian, the province’s attorney general and the ombudsman. What she found was that current laws give the public guardian complete control over a person’s legal and financial affairs.
Under the Patients Property Act, the agency has the power to enact statutory guardianship without any court process.
Laura Watts, the Centre for Elder Law’s national director, says the public guardian should only step in when necessary — when there is no default power of attorney and no willing or capable family member to assume control.
She adds that abuse of powers of attorney is rampant, but often those deemed incapable of managing their affairs get caught in what Watts refers to as the “hammer of all-or-nothing” legislation.
“It’s like flipping a switch — a person’s either got all [of their] rights or none.”
There’s no way to know how many complaints like Hall’s have been lodged against the public guardian since freedom of information requests were denied due to privacy concerns.
The agency publishes audited financial statements and details of how it invests clients’ assets, but won’t give specific details of how money is spent to family members.
Family loses out
Even when the family is still in the picture, the public guardian has been accused of unfairly taking control over the affairs of its elderly clients.
When Rose Landers was deemed incapable of managing her own affairs due to dementia and was placed in a nursing home, she lost control of her finances to the public guardian in October 2008 following a probe into allegations of financial abuse.
That probe was sparked by a relative who complained to the public guardian about the sale of one of Landers’s properties. Some of the proceeds of the sale were given to family members, including her granddaughter, Marion Landers.
Rose Landers had hoped to pass on her money to her granddaughter Marion Landers, shown here with her sons Solomon and Bilal. ((Amanda Stutt/CBC News))
Shortly after, the agency took over joint investments and emptied a bank account containing about $100,000 that the 99-year-old shared with Marion.
The two also jointly own three properties, and those are also under threat. In mid-May 2009, the public guardian informed Marion’s lawyer that they are now investigating the possibility of challenging her ownership on all three shared properties.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t understand how they can do this,” said Marion. “They are trying to force me into a position where … one of the properties goes into foreclosure.”
Marion and her two children, Solomon and Bilal, live in one of the houses and she says she couldn’t even afford to rent an apartment on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside if she was forced out.
In the end, the agency told Marion Landers that they’d found no evidence of abuse. But the agency still hasn’t returned the money, with the exception of about $4,000.
“It’s almost like gangsterism. Their behaviour is very gangster like,” said Marion.
BC OMBUDSMAN: No Longer Your Decision: British Columbia’s Process for Appointing the Public Guardian and Trustee to Manage the Financial Affairs of Incapable Adults
…
This report examined the process for issuing certificates of incapability that result in the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia assuming control over an adult’s financial and legal decision making. The investigation found that the process did not meet the requirements of fairness and reasonableness in a number of respects.
The investigation resulted in 21 findings and 28 recommendations which focused on improving practices followed by the Public Guardian and Trustee and the six health authorities, establishing provincial training for staff, and creating legally binding minimum requirements. The health authorities accepted all five of the recommendations made to them. The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee accepted five of the seven recommendations made to it in full and one in part. The Ministry of Health accepted both of the recommendations made to it. The Ministry of Justice accepted 12 of the 14 recommendations made to it that were directed toward regulatory and legislative changes.
…
PUBLIC GUARDIAN AND TRUSTEE CAN BE SUED FOR MISMANAGEMENT OF PATIENT’S AFFAIRS
June 17th | 2012
http://disinherited.com/public-guardian-and-trustee-can-be-sued-mismanagement-patients-affairs/
…It is clear that the Public Trustee can be held liable for damages arising out of its negligent management of the patients estate.
This was initially confirmed by the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Wood v. British Columbia (Public Trustee) (1986), 70 B.C.L.R. 373 ( C.A.)
In Leigh as Litigation Guardian for Beeger v Wynford Realty and the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia 2012 BCSC 583, an action was brought by way of a litigation Guardian on behalf of an elderly widow, for alleged mismanagement of her affairs while she was incapable and under their management from 2002 until 2007….
