October is Personal Planning Month, a time to focus on making important decisions while you are alive and well. Personal Planning involves creating legal documents that ensure your wishes are respected if you become incapable due to illness, injury, or aging.
What is Personal Planning?
Personal Planning is a proactive approach to making arrangements while you are alive. It differs from Estate Planning, which focuses on asset distribution after death. Personal Planning covers the period in which you may need help due to illness, injury, or other support needs while you are still living. By creating legal documents such as a Representation Agreement, you can ensure that your wishes are respected and that those you trust can make decisions on your behalf.
Through Representation Agreements (RAs), you can appoint trusted individuals to manage your health care, personal care, and even financial matters. This allows you to safeguard your choices and autonomy.
The Importance of Personal Planning
Without appropriate legal documents, your family members or friends may face barriers when trying to act on your behalf. Even a spouse. parent or adult children do not have automatic authority to make decisions for you.
Nidus Resources
Nidus has a wealth of resources to help you with personal planning:
- Representation Agreement Forms: Nidus offers free RA7 and RA9 forms on its website. Go to https://nidus.ca/ra-forms/ and scroll down to the form that fits the individual’s cognitive capability.
- Fact sheets: The RA7 Fact Sheet provides a detailed overview of what an RA7 covers, while the RA9 Fact Sheet is designed for individuals with a higher level of capacity.
- Videos: Nidus has created several videos which provide insights into personal planning and representation agreements in BC. You can see them on the Nidus YouTube channel.
- Nidus Registry: The online Nidus Registry is a secure place to store information and a copy of your legal documents. Registering with the Nidus Registry ensures that your plans are accessible when needed. Print wallet cards directly from the Nidus Registry. For step-by-step instructions, click here.
- Free Online Presentation: We’re hosting a FREE webinar on November 6th. Choose the time that works best for you:
📅 November 6th, 12–1 pm – Click here to register
📅 November 6th, 7–8 pm – Click here to register - Legal bytes: Follow us on Instagram to get helpful insights from our “Legal Bytes” series, where we provide quick legal points and valuable information on BC laws related to legal planning. If you’re not on Instagram yet, simply download the app and follow our page for updates. Prefer Facebook? No worries—most of the same content is posted on our Facebook page too!
Start your Planning Today
Use this month as a reminder to act now and protect your rights and wishes. For more information, visit nidus.ca.