Content of the mandate

Protection in stages

As time passes, you may become more incapacitated, so it may be wise to plan for the mandatary to gradually take on more responsibility, if your medical and psychosocial assessments show you need them to do so. For example, at a certain point, you may be able to take care of yourself but unable to do banking transactions (partial incapacity), so simple administration of property only would be appropriate.

The content of a mandate in case of incapacity varies according to the individual's wishes.

Your main concern is to define the powers and obligations of the person or persons (mandataries) you choose to take care of you and administer your property. There are two options:

A general mandate, which specifies what should be done to ensure your well-being and the administration of all your property. Because it does not go into detail, it gives your mandataries greater freedom of action to deal with unforeseen events.
A detailed mandate, which is far more precise. It lists your wishes point by point. On the other hand, it does not allow as much leeway for coping with unforeseen events and could prevent a mandatary from acting in situations not specified in the mandate.

It is up to you to decide which option suits you best.

Administration of your property

Model mandate

Le Curateur public has a model mandate that helps you cover all the major points. Downloading it will give you some ideas before you meet with your notary or draft your mandate yourself.

We advise you to:

include a clause instructing your mandatary to make an inventory of your property at the time the mandate comes into effect;
- The inventory is a profile of your property and debts at the time the mandatary takes up their duties. It is particularly useful when a mandatary's administration has to be verified, or when it ends. The inventory should include an accurate description of all the property to be managed, except for personal belongings and effects worth less than $100, which do not have to be listed in detail.
designate someone to whom your mandatary has to give a report of their administration (even if they are a close relative whom you trust completely), and specify how often they should do so (e.g. once a year)
provide a substitute for this person;
think of one or more substitutes in case your mandatary is no longer able or willing to execute the mandate.
- The administration report should be given to someone other than the substitute. This person should be able to evaluate the mandatary's administration and ensure that the decisions made were in your best interests; they should also be in a position to take any steps required to rectify the situation; and ideally, they should be present when the inventory is drawn up.

Specific instructions like this will avoid all sorts of family disputes and also ensure you are better protected!

Simple administration

You can specify many other acts that will safeguard your property or ensure the continued use of it, in a simple administration mandate:

day to day management of your affairs (bank accounts or credit union / caisse populaire accounts, payment of your mortgage instalments or insurance premiums, etc.);
production of your income tax returns;
preservation and maintenance of your movable property and real estate (your mandatary is not allowed to sell this without your authorization, if you are able to give it, or if you are not, without that of the court, unless the item of property is something perisable or of fast-deteriorating value);
presumed sound investments, as defined by the Civil Code of Québec, etc.

Whatever powers you give your mandatary, you can prohibit them from selling certain property that you wish to leave to specific people.

Full administration

You may also grant your mandatary more power and entrust them with making your property productive and performing more extensive transactions without the need for further authorization, in a full administration mandate. They will then be able to:

sell real estate;
sell property;
mortgage real estate;
make all kinds of investments, etc.

Protection of your person

When you give your mandatary the responsibility of looking after you, one of their duties will be to consent on your behalf to any necessary medical care, if you are declared incapable of consenting to it yourself. They may have to choose the establishment where you will live. You can specify that they should visit you regularly, and state your wishes regarding end-of-life care (not being kept alive by artificial means, donating organs, and so on).

Remuneration and other provisions

You can specify that the mandatary looking after you or managing your property is to receive remuneration based on the time they devote to their duties, as well as being reimbursed for expenses. For a mandatary to property, remuneration can also be a percentage of the value of the property they manage.

You can also designate a guardian (the legal term is a "tutor") for your children, in case they are still minor when you become incapacitated. Each of your wishes may be set out in a separate clause in your mandate.