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{{Template:Legal Help Guide TOC}}There are now a number of options for assisting people who have trouble dealing with their financial and personal affairs. Some of these options are:
* '''Power of attorney:''' A power of attorney is a document you (the '''donor''') can sign to give someone else the power to conduct your financial affairs. You have to be mentally capable to give a power of attorney, but you can make the power '''enduring''', so that it is still in effect if you later lose your mental capacity.
* '''Representation agreement:''' A representation agreement is a document prepared for a person (the donor) who, though they may be mentally incapable of making a contract or managing their health care, can still trust another person and communicate their desire for that person (their '''representative''') to make decisions on their behalf.A representation agreement can authorize a representative to make some or all of a wide variety of decisions on behalf of the Donor, such as:**routine financial decisions,**health and personal care decisions,**hiring legal counsel,**overriding the donor's refusal of help or medical treatment,**making arrangements for the donor's minor children.
* '''Committeeship:''' Where a person is not mentally capable of managing his or her affairs, a family member or the Public Trustee can apply to the Supreme Court of BC for an order declaring the person to be mentally incapable and appointing a '''committee''' with the authority to handle financial affairs for them. Once a committee is appointed, the person has no further say about the affairs over which the committee has authority.