What is the cost for assistance from the Public Trustee and Nidus?

Written by admin on February 16, 2015

1. What cost for assistance from Public Trustee and Nidus —woman on low income—no other options or relatives/friends available or desirable. I have a will and insurance (life) paid up.

The Public Guardian and Trustee

The Public Guardian and Trustee charges fees for its various services. The fees are established by regulation made by the government of British Columbia. The fees charged for committee services are as follows: 4% of the total value of all assets of the adult administered by the Public Guardian and Trustee, 4% of all income received during administration, and 0.7% per year asset management fee on the value of all assets under administration.

Full details of the Public Guardian and Trustee fees can be found atwww.trustee.bc.ca.

CATHERINE ROMANKO, Public Guardian and Trustee

Nidus Personal Planning and Resource Centre

Nidus is a non-profit, charitable organization and its mandate is to provide information and education on BC’s planning tools. As such, Nidus does not provide representatives or act as a representative on behalf of individuals. The information available from Nidus is free of charge, for example: webinars and handouts. Nidus also offersappointments for a small fee or sliding scale. Nidus can share examples of how other people have created a network in situations where it seemed they did not have anyone available to help.

If you have a Will, you will have appointed an executor. You might consider asking if they would be willing to assist if you become incapable.

Nidus has found that, as a legal planning tool that was initiated by citizens and community groups, Representation Agreements offer a different approach—sometimes people do not want to be the ‘only one’ named. We use a team approach, which provides a way to share responsibility and is also a safeguard to prevent abuse.

Nidus partnered with BC Courthouse Libraries to raise awareness about BC’s essential legal planning documents and the Nidus Registry. The kick off event was held on September 15th at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch with a panel of experts in the field. Questions that were submitted will be answered in a series of posts by Nidus and various panel members. To see photos from the event click Gallery; and click Registry Sing-a-long for the fun of it!