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Easy Read Edition
The Right to Make Choices:
International Laws and Decision-
Making by People with Disabilities
Part 5: Guardianship and
Supported Decision-Making Law
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5. Guardianship and
Supported Decision-
Making Laws
• All countries make their own laws.
• In the United States and Canada,
guardianship and supported
decision-making laws vary by state or
province.
• Other countries have dierent laws.
• Countries can have dierent types
of laws about guardianship and
supported decision-making.
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• Guardianship laws allow other
people to make life choices for a
person with a disability.
• Supported decision-making laws
allow people with disabilities to make
their own choices with support.
• Some countries have more specic
laws that allow people with
disabilities to make some choices but
not others, which will be discussed
individually in the country sections.
• Often, countries have a combination
of these three things.
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The United States of
America
• All 50 States have laws about
guardianship. Each state has
dierent laws.
• Massachusetts, for example,
might have very dierent rules
about how the court decides who
needs a guardian than Alabama
does.
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• Dierent states have dierent rules
about:
• How the court supervises the
guardian
• How easy or hard it is for
somebody to get put under
guardianship in that state
• How the court decides who
needs a guardian
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• Because dierent states have
dierent laws about guardianship,
which state a person with a disability
lives in can change their whole life.
• For example, a person may be
put under guardianship because
they lived in a state where it was
very easy to put someone under
guardianship.
• If the person lived in a dierent
state, they might not have been
put under guardianship.
• Instead, they would be able to
keep making their own choices.
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• For example, If a person with a
disability moves from Virginia
to Maryland and is under
guardianship, the guardianship
might change or completely
disappear simply because of the
move to Maryland.
• Most states have laws saying that
guardianships should be limited to
just the parts of life that the person
needs support with.
• But despite these laws, most
people in most states get put under
full guardianships like the ones
described earlier.
• They lose the ability to make
decisions for themselves.
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• Disability advocates want supported
decision-making laws.
• These laws reduce the number of
people under guardianship.
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Supported Decision-Making Laws in
the United States
• Texas and Delaware have laws for
supported decision-making.
• Texas and Delaware are the only
states where these laws exist.
• In Texas, courts have to think
about supported decision-
making options for you before
they can assign you a guardian.
• Guardianship is the nal option
if supported decision-making
doesn’t work.
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• In Texas, an adult with a disability
signs a supported decision-making
agreement.
• The agreement is legal as long
as the person with a disability
understands the agreement.
• You sign the agreement in front
of people or witnesses.
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Reform in the United States
• Even though Texas is the only US
state which has passed a supported
decision-making law, advocates
across the United States are trying to
get supported decision-making laws
passed in their home states.
• There have also been many
conferences on supported decision-
making where people could talk
about these laws.
• Many disability rights and disability
self-advocacy groups have said that
supported decision-making should
be used whenever possible instead
of guardianship.
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• ASAN wrote model supported
decision-making laws that let
people sign special supported
decision-making agreements for
health care.
• “Model laws” are designs for a law.
A model law is not an actual law.
People use model laws for ideas.
• ASAN’s model law lets the person
with a disability make decisions,
with help from a supporter. ASAN’s
model law only works in healthcare
situations.
• It is easy to prove you understand
the agreement under ASAN’s model
law: you just have to say you want a
supporter.
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• The Constitution and the Americans
with Disabilities Act make
guardianship hard.
• Guardianship takes away rights
guaranteed by both the Constitution
and the Americans With Disabilities
Act.
• The Constitution says that freedom
is a right. Guardianship takes away
freedom.
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• People with disabilities could also
use the Americans with Disabilities
Act to challenge guardianships.
• It is possible to challenge
guardianships and win.
• Jenny Hatch, a 29-year-old woman
with Down Syndrome, went to live
with friends after she won in court.
• She chose her friends as her
supporters. She has choices now.
• Advocates hope more courts
follow this decision.
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Canada
• Several Canadian provinces have
supported decision-making laws.
• In British Columbia, for example,
people with disabilities enter a
Representation Agreement.
• You name people you trust (or
group of people) who help with the
decisions.
• This person is called the
Representative.
• You can sign a representation
agreement even if the court
says you cannot sign a power of
attorney.
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• You have control over the decisions
you make.
• The Representative sometimes
make decisions for a person with a
disability in some special cases.
• This can happen when the
Representative doesn’t have
the chance to talk to the person
with a disability before making a
decision.
• The Representative also can
sometimes go against the person
with a disability’s wishes if their
wishes do not seem “reasonable.”
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• In most Representation Agreements,
there are some choices that the
Representative can’t make for the
person with a disability, no matter
what.
• These include:
• refusing medical treatments that
you need to live,
• abortion,
• restraint,
• experimental medical
treatments,
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• forcing you to take medications,
• using pain or unpleasant things
to try and change the person’s
behavior,
• making parenting decisions for a
person with a disability who has
children,
• or buying or selling the person
with a disability’s house.
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• A Representation Agreement
with Broader Powers lets the
Representative make more
decisions.
• But even in that case, a
Representative can’t consent to
things like:
• taking away the ability to have
children (unless it’s medically
necessary)
• or suicide with medical help.
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• If a person with a disability signs a
Representation Agreement, they
have legal capacity.
• Legal capacity means you can
make decisions without your
Representative.
• A person with a disability can stop or
change a Representation Agreement
any time.
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• Even without a Representation
Agreement, you can get some kinds
of help from your friends and family.
• They can remind you to do
things you have to do, help you
understand your choices, and
come with you to the bank or
doctor’s oce.
• Without a Representation
Agreement, they cannot always
do things like talk to your bank or
your doctor when you can’t talk
to them yourself.
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• Some Representation Agreements
allow a Representative control over
money.
• You can take these special steps to
make sure your Representative does
not take advantage of you:
• You name a spouse as your
Representative;
• You name a group who serves as
Representatives. The group must
all agree before it can spend your
money.
• You name a monitor. The
monitor make sure the
representatives follow your
wishes.
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• Anyone can report the
representative for abuse and neglect.
The government investigates.
• Yukon and Saskatchewan have
similar Representation Agreement
laws.
• Only British Columbia’s law
allows people with signicant
disabilities to sign Representation
Agreements.
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• In Canada, you can get an Enduring
Power of Attorney.
• An Enduring Power of Attorney
is like a durable power of
attorney in the United States.
• It is like a Representation
Agreement, but not everyone can
sign it.
• A notary public puts a stamp on
an Enduring Power Of Attorney.
A notary public makes the
document legal.
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• The notary public may choose
not to make the document legal
if the notary public believes
you did not understand the
document.
• Also, if another person believes
you did not understand the
document and complains to the
court, and the court agrees, the
court cancels the Enduring Power
of Attorney.
• Finally, Canada also has a
guardianship system. A court
appoints a guardian for you.
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Sweden
• Sweden has a supported decision-
making law that is very dierent
from Canada’s.
• You must ask the court for a
supporter in Sweden. The court
appoints a legal mentor or
administrator.
• No guardianship system exists in
Sweden.
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• A legal mentor helps the person
with a disability make decisions.
• The legal mentor can be a friend,
family member, professional
supporter, or even a community
member such as a teacher or
social worker.
• The legal mentor gives advice.
• If the person with a disability
wants, the legal mentor manages
money.
• If the person with a disability is
ill, the legal mentor acts without
approval.
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• People with disabilities make
decisions with the legal mentors,
with or without help.
• The person with a disability can also
cancel the legal mentorship at any
time.
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• The court can also appoint an
administrator, who acts more like a
guardian.
• This only happens when appointing a
legal mentor would not be enough to
help the person make decisions.
• An administrator can make decisions
for a person with a disability without
rst asking for the person’s approval.
• The administrator can also undo
decisions that a person with a
disability made, if the administrator
thinks they seemed wrong.
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• For example, if a person with
a disability buys a car that the
administrator thinks that the person
cannot aord, the administrator can
take the car back to the seller.
• They can get the person’s money
back – even if this means the
seller will lose money.
• The person with a disability still has
some decision-making rights, such as
the right to vote.
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• Sweden also has programs to give
people professional help to make
decisions.
• For example, instead of choosing
a person like a friend or family
member, a person with a disability
can get a professional supporter
called a Personal Ombudsman from
an agency.
• They do not have to go to court to
get the Personal Ombudsman.
• The Personal Ombudsman (PO)
spends a lot of time reaching out to
and meeting with the person with a
disability.
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• The PO cannot make any decisions
for the disabled person but can help
the disabled person make his or her
own choices.
• Personal Ombudsmen work with
people who have psychiatric
disabilities, not intellectual or
developmental disabilities.
• People with intellectual or
developmental disabilities hire a
personal assistant who helps with
decisions and daily living.
• The government pays for the
assistant.
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United Kingdom (England,
Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland)
• Guardianship and supported
decision-making in England and
Wales are now both governed by the
same important law: The Mental
Capacity Act of 2005.
• The United Kingdom is made up
of England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland.
• The Mental Capacity Act of 2005
is only law in England and Wales.
Northern Ireland and Scotland have
dierent laws.
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• The Mental Capacity Act has a few
important rules to follow.
• These rules are:
• Assume a person with a disability
makes their own decision unless
proven otherwise.
• The court must try supported
decision-making before
guardianship.
• Bad decisions are not a reason
for guardianship.
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• If people can’t nd any way for
someone with a disability to
communicate what choice they
want to make or make a decision,
all decisions made for the person
must be in that person’s “best
interests.”
• Even a decision made in the
best interest of a person with a
disability must protect them and
accomplish their goals.
• This protection cannot restrict
a person with a disability.
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• No guardianship under the Mental
Capacity Act can take away your right
to:
• Marry whoever you want
• Have relationships and friends
• Place a child up for adoption
• Vote
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• People with disabilities who need
support have options under The
Mental Capacity Act.
• These options range from
supported decision-making
options to guardianship options.
• Some are similar to guardianship.
• Others are more like supported
decision-making.
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Deputies
• Deputies are the British term for
guardians.
• A court appoints a deputy.
• The court appoints a deputy when
the court thinks you cannot make
decisions.
• A person must apply to the Court of
Protection to be a deputy.
• The Oce of the Public Guardian
oversees deputies.
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• The court order lists what the deputy
is in charge of.
• The deputy must act in the best
interests of the person with a
disability.
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• A deputy must keep ve things in
mind with any decision.
1. Do not make assumptions about
the person with a disability.
2. The deputy must wait to make
a non-urgent decision if there
is a chance the person with a
disability will be able to decide
for themselves later on.
3. The deputy must wait on any
noncritical decision if there
is a chance the person with a
disability gets to make decisions
themselves again.
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4. The deputy must involve the
person with a disability as much
as possible in decisions.
5. Deputies cannot stop life-saving
medical treatment.
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Lasting Power of Attorney and Advance
Decisions
• In England when you create a power
of attorney, you can create two
types:
• an ordinary power of attorney
and
• a Lasting Power of Attorney
(LPA).
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• An ordinary power of attorney
gives someone the same kinds
of powers as a normal power of
attorney in the United States.
• A Lasting Power of Attorney
gives someone the power to make
decisions for another person who is
no longer able to make decisions for
themselves.
• It is like a durable power of
attorney in the United States or
an enduring power of attorney
in Canada.
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• Lasting Powers of Attorney grant
a person (Called the attorney, even
if they are not a licensed attorney)
the right to make one of two specic
types of decisions on behalf of
another.
• One type of decision is health
care and welfare.
• The other type of decision is
about property and nancial
decisions.
• These two types can’t be
combined.
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• If someone wants to give another
person the ability to make
decisions about both health care
and money, they would have to
sign two dierent forms.
• Lasting powers of attorney can
be created at any time when the
person granting another power over
their life is seen as having the ability
to make their own decisions.
• The lasting power of attorney only
takes eect when the person loses
this ability.
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• A lasting power of attorney could
be used as a plan for how to make
decisions in case of a future illness or
disability.
• It can also be a way to appoint a
supporter for times when you have
more support needs than usual.
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• Advance statements say what you
want in the future.
• Advance statements cover any
subject.
• Advance statements are not legal
documents.
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• An advance decision is like an
advance statement, but specically
covers unwanted medical treatment.
• Unlike an advance statement, it is a
legal document.
• It only works if it is signed when the
person is seen as having the ability
to make decisions.
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• A doctor in England absolutely has to
do what the advance decision says.
• For example, an advance
statement could say that the
person with a disability doesn’t
want to go to a certain hospital,
but the person’s doctors don’t
have to listen. They could still
take the person to that hospital.
• If an advance decision said that
the person didn’t want to go to
that hospital, the doctors would
have to not let that person go to
that hospital no matter what.
• This means that people have
to think very carefully before
signing an advance decision.
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Independent Mental Capacity
Advocates (IMCAs)
• The United Kingdom doesn’t have
many ocial ways to recognize
a supported decision-making
relationship.
• It is assumed that a family member
or friend is your guardian, or that
they can help you make decisions.
• England and Wales are part of the
U.K. Some people in England or
Wales do not have any family or
friends that can help them.
• People in England or Wales may be
able to get an Independent Mental
Capacity Advocate, or ICMA.
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• You cannot get an IMCA if you’ve
been placed in a mental hospital
under a law called the Mental Health
Act of 1983.
• British courts can decide that
some people can’t make important
decisions on their own. IMCAs help
these people.
• IMCAs can only help with health
care, abuse and neglect, or when the
person is changing where they live.
• The IMCAs know how to talk
to people who have trouble
communicating.
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• The IMCA nds out from the person
what they want and tells other
people what they want.
• For example, the IMCA tells
the doctor what treatment the
person wants.
• If the IMCA can’t nd out what the
person wants, the IMCA makes a
guess.
• The IMCA does not make the nal
decision. Whoever called the IMCA
makes the nal decision. This person
is called the decision-maker.
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• Sometimes an important decision
has to be made. If there are no
friends or family to help, the
decision-maker has to give you an
IMCA.
• The decision maker is chosen by the
NHS or the local government. The
NHS is the U.K. agency that does
health care. Sometimes a doctor is
the decision-maker.
• The IMCA can challenge the nal
decision.
• They can also argue that you are able
to make decisions, even if the British
court said you can’t.
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Bulgaria
Guardianship in Bulgaria
• Guardianship in Bulgaria
limits choices even more than
guardianship does in other
countries.
• Very few laws on guardianship exist
in Bulgaria.
• The ones that do exist take most
choices away from people with
disabilities.
• Advocates think guardianship in
Bulgaria is outdated, used too much,
and based on stereotypes about
people with disabilities.
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• About 7,000 people with disabilities
are under guardianship in Bulgaria.
• Most of these are the “full”
guardianships we explained earlier.
• There are “partial” guardianships in
Bulgaria, but even these take away
many rights.
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• People under full or partial
guardianships in Bulgaria can’t sign a
contract with someone else without
help of the guardian.
• People under guardianship in
Bulgaria don’t have control over their
property or where they live, either.
• Bulgarian guardianship law grants
the guardian the power to control
the person under guardianship’s
property and the power to
decide where the person under
guardianship lives.
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• The person cannot even complain to
the court if they think they shouldn’t
have a guardian.
• Only their guardian can go to
court to complain if the person
is not getting any or enough
services.
• This is a serious problem
because sometimes the person’s
guardian does not want the same
things the person wants.
• For example, if guardian takes
a person’s money away or puts
them in an institution, the person
can’t go to court and complain
unless the guardian agrees to let
them go to court.
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• The European Court of Human
Rights says Bulgaria’s guardianship
laws are illegal.
• The European Court on Human
Rights hears cases inside the
European Union.
• Bulgaria is a member of the
European Union.
• Bulgaria must listen to the European
Court on Human Rights.
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• In Stankov v. Bulgaria and Stanev
v. Bulgaria, the European Court of
Human Rights listened to complaints
by people with disabilities who had
been put into institutions by their
guardians.
• The guardians had not asked them
where they wanted to live.
• In Stanev’s case, he had never even
met his guardian.
• The conditions in the institutions
were also very bad.
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• The European Court of Human Rights
said that this violated European
Convention on Human Rights.
• It was illegal because the people with
disabilities had no way of arguing
they shouldn’t be institutionalized if
that was what the guardian wanted.
• To obey these court decisions,
Bulgaria will have to change its
guardianship laws.
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Supported Decision-Making in Bulgaria
• Right now, there are very few
options in Bulgaria for people
with disabilities who want to live
independently but with supports.
• A national program called Assistants
to People with Disabilities was
created in 2003.
• This program hires previously
unemployed people and teaches
them to support people with
disabilities.
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• A program called Help at Home
helps pay assistants or family
members of people with disabilities
to give people supports.
• However, some advocates
have said that these assistants
sometimes don’t have enough
knowledge and experience
about the needs of people with
disabilities.
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Reform Eorts in Bulgaria
• Advocates in Bulgaria really want to
make guardianship laws there better.
• Advocates created a supported
decision-making model in
Bulgaria.
• They’re also trying to get laws
passed that create supported
decision-making for people with
disabilities there.
• In Bulgaria, The Minister of Justice
deals with human rights issues.
• The Minister of Justice wants
supported decision-making.
• Progress is slow.
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Illustration by Pip Malone
Reform Efforts in Bulgaria:
An Illustration
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Israel
Guardianship
• Guardians in Israel are called
apotropos, which is a legal term
there.
• Originally, Israel made guardianship
for the elderly.
• Now, Israel uses guardianship a lot.
• In Israel, 50,000 people are under
guardianship.
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• Guardians in Israel are always
appointed by the courts.
• They are often family members.
• Guardianships in Israel are fairly
similar to guardianships in other
countries, in that the person with a
disability loses power over their own
decisions and daily life.
• The guardian gets the right to
make those decisions.
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• There is one interesting exception. In
Israel, it is possible to be put under
guardianship while still keeping the
theoretical, legal ability to make your
own decisions as well.
• This happens when a court appoints
a guardian but does not specically
say that the person with a disability
is “legally incompetent.”
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• In this case, the person under
guardianship can still make decisions
about health care and money
or sign contracts without telling
the guardian, but the guardian in
practice still controls the person’s
life.
• The guardian still does control
the major choices that need to
be made by the person with
a disability because if people
know you have a guardian, they
probably won’t ask for your
opinion in Israel.
• If the court says you cannot make
choices, you can argue against
guardianship in court.
69
Supported Decision-Making
• Israel just started to use supported
decision-making.
• The rst person in Israel moved from
guardianship to supported decision-
making two years ago.
• Advocates want Israel’s guardianship
laws in line with the CRPD.
• Bizchut is a disability rights
organization that helps with
supported decision-making.
• Right now, 22 people with disabilities
use supported decision-making.
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• Bizchut has made some videos about
supported decision-making. You can
watch them on YouTube by clicking
on the links below.
• Bizchut’s Article 12 pilot
• Dana
• Alex
• Horesh
• Three stories
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• Israel Unlimited gives people with
disabilities a care coordinator and a
mentor.
• The care coordinator and mentor
help make decisions.
• The care coordinator and
mentor also help the person with
independent living skills.
72
• Israel agreed to the CRPD.
• This means that it should let
people use supported decision-
making instead of guardianship.
• But there is still no ocial
government program to promote
supported decision-making.
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Other Guardianship Alternatives
• People in Israel can sign documents
to name supporters.
• They can use a power of attorney
to get support with health care and
money.
• Powers of attorney in Israel are
like powers of attorney in the US,
Canada, or the UK.
• A psychiatric advance directive
says what mental health treatment
you want if you have a mental health
crisis.
• It is not a legal document.
Doctors do not have to follow it.
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• Some people who own property –
like a house – worry that they will
make a bad decision and sell the
house.
• People can prevent this using
something called a caveat.
• A caveat prevents you from
making certain kinds of decisions
about land without the court’s
approval.
• The caveat can also prevent a
guardian or supporter from
selling land without court
approval too, although usually it
isn’t used like that.
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• A person can also name a trustee
over his or her land, money, and
other property.
• The person with a disability can put a
bank account or land into a “trust.”
• The trustee is the person who
takes care of the trust.
• The trustee is like a power of
attorney but can only make decisions
about money or property in the
trust.
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• The trust can have rules about what
the trustee can or can’t do.
• For example, the trustee may not
be able to sell the land.
• For a bank account, the trustee
may be allowed to spend only a
certain amount every month.
• The person with a disability can put
only some of their property in the
trust.
• For example, they may put their
house in a trust but keep control
over their bank account.
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Glossary
78
Glossary
Advance decision (UK)
An advance decision is like an advance
directive, but specically covers
unwanted medical treatment. Unlike an
advance directive, it is a legal document.
It only works if it is signed when the
person is seen as having the ability to
make decisions. A doctor in England
absolutely has to do what the advance
decision says.
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Advance directive
A kind of form you can sign. Also called
an Advance Statement in England. It tells
people what you want if you become
unable to make decisions or to tell them
what you want. It is usually used to show
the doctors what kind of health care you
want, or what kind you don’t want. An
advance directive is usually not legally
binding. This means that doctors don’t
always have to listen to what it says.
Advance statement (UK)
see Advance directive
Apotropos (Israel)
The word for guardians in Israel.
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Assistants to People with Disabilities
(Bulgaria)
This program hires previously
unemployed people and teaches them to
support people with disabilities.
Bizchut (Israel)
A disability rights organization that helps
with supported decision-making.
Caveat (Israel)
A caveat in a legally-binding document
can prevent a guardian from making
certain kinds of decisions about land.
81
Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CRPD)
An agreement among countries about
the rights of people with disabilities. It is
an international law. Article 12 protects
people’s right to make decisions about
their own lives. Most countries have
agreed to follow the CRPD, but not all.
Many countries that agreed to follow it
are still not fully protecting the decision-
making rights in Article 12. Those
countries that have agreed to follow the
CRPD, but are not following Article 12,
may risk being taken to court.
Court of Protection (UK)
A special kind of court in England. It
can decide what kind of help a person
needs to make decisions. It can appoint a
deputy for a person with a disability.
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Deputy
The word for guardians in England.
Durable Power of Attorney
A power of attorney that keeps working
if you become unable to make decisions
without help. Sometimes this kind of
power of attorney only starts working if
you become unable to make decisions
without help. Usually, doctors have to
say that you can’t make decisions. Once
you’re seen as unable to make decisions,
you may not be allowed to cancel the
power of attorney.
Enduring Power of Attorney (Canada)
see Durable Power of Attorney
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European Court on Human Rights
The European Court on Human Rights
hears cases from countries that are
inside the European Union.
Full Guardianship
Guardianship where the guardian makes
decisions involving every, or almost
every, part of a person’s life – including
health care, money, where a person lives,
and what a person does during the day.
Guardianship
An arrangement where someone is
appointed by law to make decisions
about another person’s life. In
many countries, guardians will be
appointed for disabled adults who
are seen as unable to make their own
decisions. Guardianship could be a Full
Guardianship or a Limited Guardianship.
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Help at Home (Bulgaria)
This program helps pay assistants
or family members of people with
disabilities to give people supports.
Independent Mental Capacity
Advocates (IMCAs) (UK)
ICMAs are people paid to help the person
who has trouble making important
decisions on their own, like their future
health care plans or their nances. The
IMCAs receive training to help them
communicate with the person they
support and nd out what that person
wants to do.
Israel Unlimited (Israel)
An organization that gives people with
disabilities a care coordinator and
a mentor. The care coordinator and
mentor help the person with disabilities
with independent living skills.
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Lasting Power of Attorney (UK)
see Durable Power of Attorney
Limited Guardianship
Guardianship where the guardian makes
decisions about some parts of a person’s
life, such as money and healthcare, but
not others.
Legal capacity
A person’s ability to have their decisions
recognized legally. This can include
whether a person can sign a contract,
set up a bank account, sue in court, or
make a decision about health care. If
a person does not have legal capacity,
then a banker or a doctor would not be
allowed to follow the person’s decision
alone. They would need permission from
a guardian or family member. Dierent
countries or states might have dierent
rules about who has legal capacity and
who does not.
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Legal mentor
The Swedish equivalent of a supporter.
The mentor has some ability to make
decisions for a person. The person with
a disability can re the mentor at any
time. The mentor can make decisions for
the person with a disability that person
becomes unable to say what they want.
Mental Capacity Act of 2005 (UK)
This law governs both guardianship and
supported decision-making in England
and Wales. The Mental Capacity Act has
important rules to follow about when
guardians can be assigned and what
guardians can and cannot do.
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Model Legislation
An idea for how a law could work. It is
written to look like a real law. Lawmakers
can use it as a model for laws to pass.
It does not become a real law unless
lawmakers vote to make it a law.
Notary or Notary Public
This word means dierent things in
dierent countries. In many countries,
notaries are people who have special
stamps or seals. Sometimes they are also
lawyers. A notary might need to put the
stamp or seal on a power of attorney
or health care proxy. The stamp or
seal means that the notary is sure that
the people signing the document are
who they say they are. The notary may
also make sure the person signing the
document knows what they are signing.
In some places, a power of attorney or
health care proxy won’t work unless a
notary puts a stamp or seal on them.
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Ordinary Power of Attorney
A power of attorney that stops working
if you become unable to make decisions
without help. Also called Normal Power
of Attorney.
Personal assistant or Personal
Ombudsman
A Swedish type of supporter. A person
can get one from an agency. Usually a
personal ombudsman works with people
with psychiatric disabilities. A personal
assistant works with people who have
intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Psychiatric Advance Directive (Israel)
An advance directive about mental
health. For example, it can say that you
don’t want a certain medication. It is not
a legal document. Doctors do not have to
follow it.
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Representation Agreement (Canada)
A kind of supported decision making
agreement in British Columbia, Canada.
It allows people with disabilities to name
a Representative. The Representative
helps make decisions. The person with
a disability usually keeps the ability to
make their own decisions. Sometimes
a Representative may make decisions
for the person with a disability. This can
happen if the person with a disability
can’t make the decision for some reason.
It could also happen if the Representative
thinks the person with a disability is being
“unreasonable.”
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Representation Agreement with
Broader Powers (Canada)
A special Representation Agreement. It
gives a Representative the ability to do
things that they normally could not. For
example, the Representative could help
make decisions about buying or selling a
person’s house. A person with a disability
can’t sign a Representation Agreement
with Broader Powers if the court thinks
they do not completely understand it.
Supported Decision-Making
A way to make decisions. A person with a
disability chooses someone to help them
understand or communicate a decision.
The person with a disability is free to
make their own decision but has help
from the supporter.
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Supported Decision-Making Agreement
An agreement that a person can make
with a supporter. The supporter helps the
person make decisions. The supporter
usually can’t make decisions for the
person with a disability. In some places,
an agreement just needs to be signed
by the person with a disability and the
supporter. In other places, they also
need to be stamped by a Notary. In
some places, they may even need to be
approved by a court.
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Trust
A trust is a legal arrangement that
lets someone else manage money or
property. The manager, or trustee, has
to follow special rules that you set. For
example, there might be a rule that you
get a certain amount of money each
month. Or there can be a rule that the
money can be spent for certain things.
The trustee can only manage the money
or property that’s been put into the trust.
Trustee
A trustee is someone who manages
money or property that’s in a trust. A
trustee could be a person you know. Or
it could be a bank or a lawyer. A trust can
have more than one trustee.