The original of your Representation Agreement is required by your representative when s/he needs to act on your behalf. You can give the agreement to your representative once it is executed, or inform him/her of the location. Keep in mind that it shall be kept in a safe place and your Representative should have easy access to it when needed.

A Representation Agreement ends:

1.      on the death of the adult who made the agreement;
2.      on the court cancelling the agreement;
3.      if the adult who made the agreement and the adult's representative are spouses, on the termination of their marriage or marriage-like relationship, unless the Representation Agreement states otherwise;
4.      on the representative becoming incapable;
5.      on the resignation or death of the representative;
6.      on the effective date of the revocation of the agreement
7.     when the adult becomes a Patient under the Patients Property Act.

Note that a Representation Agreement may not end in 3, 4, and 5 above if the agreement names an alternate representative.

A Representation Agreement becomes effective either on the date it is signed by the adult and witnesses, or at the time that an event that is specified in the agreement occurs.

A person who:

• · provides personal care or health care services to the adult for compensation, or
• · is an employee of a facility in which the adult resides and through which the adult receives personal care or health care services

cannot be your representative, unless that person is your child, spouse, or parent.

Your representative should be someone that you trust, someone that knows you well, someone that lives close to you, and someone that is capable of making the appropriate decisions required on your behalf. That person must also be at least 19 years old.

A Representation Agreement does not give your attorney the power to deal with real estate while a Power of Attorney does. A Power of Attorney does not allow your attorney to make decisions regarding your health care and personal care, but a Representation Agreement does.

Your representative can manage routine financial affairs, the list of which is quite lengthy. A complete list is set out in Section 2 of the Representation Agreement Regulation (make it a link to http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/loo85/loo85/10_199_2001#section2).

A section 7 agreement is for most health care and most legal and financial decisions. It cannot grant authority for preservation of life decisions.

A section 7 agreement gives the adults representative the powers to make decisions regarding:

· the adults personal care

· routine management of the adult's financial affairs, including

· payment of bills,

· receipt and deposit of pension and other income,

· purchases of food, accommodation and other services necessary for personal care, and

· the making of investments

· major health care and minor health care

· obtaining legal services for the adult and instructing counsel to commence proceedings, except divorce proceedings, or to continue, compromise, defend or settle any legal proceedings on the adult's behalf.

A section 9 agreement is for all health care decisions.

A section 9 agreement is much broader than a section 7 agreement and gives the adults representative the powers to make decisions regarding:

1. do anything that the representative considers necessary in relation to the personal care or health care of the adult, or

2. do one or more things in relation to the personal care or health care of the adult, including any of the following:

a. decide where the adult is to live and with whom, including whether the adult should live in a care facility;

b. decide whether the adult should work and, if so, the type of work, the employer, and any related matters;

c. decide whether the adult should participate in any educational, social, vocational or other activity;

d. decide whether the adult should have contact or associate with another person;

e. decide whether the adult should apply for any licence, permit, approval or other authorization required by law for the performance of an activity;

f. make day-to-day decisions on behalf of the adult, including decisions about the diet or dress of the adult;

g. give or refuse consent to health care for the adult, including giving or refusing consent, in the circumstances specified in the agreement, to specified kinds of health care, even though the adult refuses to give consent at the time the health care is provided;

h. despite any objection of the adult, physically restrain, move and manage the adult and authorize another person to do these things, if necessary to provide personal care or health care to the adult.