Advance Care Planning for Residential Care

Legal issues regarding advance care planning in residential care are described in greater detail in Chapter 6 “ Capacity and Consent” and Chapter 7 “Substitute Decision-Making”. As previously noted, advance care planning issues can come up during the admission process.

Some operators have misinterpreted certain aspects of accreditation focusing on residents’ rights, and may try to require prospective residents to sign advance care documents as a condition of admission. This is not legal. The Licensing “Standard of Practice” for residential care notes:

“A resident (or someone with the legal authority to make health care decisions on the resident’s behalf) must not be required, either as a condition of admission (or as on ongoing requirement to reside in a community care facility) to sign advance directives or levels of intervention documents.” (66)

To require a resident to sign documents of this nature is in contravention of section 7(1) (b) of the Community Care and Assisted Living Act which requires the Operator to operate a care facility in a manner that will promote the health, safety and dignity of persons in care.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support, June 2014.

The testing of the claims in a court proceeding at a formal hearing before a judge with the jurisdiction to hear the proceeding. The parties present their evidence and arguments to the judge, who then makes a decision resolving the parties' claims against one another that is final and binding on the parties unless successfully appealed. See "action," "appeal," "argument," "claim," "evidence" and "jurisdiction."

In law, the re-examination of a term of an order or agreement, usually to determine whether the term remains fair and appropriate in light of the circumstances prevailing at the time of the review. In family law, particularly the review of an order or agreement provided for the payment of spousal support. See "de novo," "family law agreements," "order" and "spousal support."

In family law, this usually refers to one party obtaining a part of any property at issue before the property has been finally divided by court order or the parties' agreement, usually in order to help pay for that person's legal fees.