Are you an adult who is concerned there will be no one willing or able to manage your affairs if you lose the capacity to do so? Do you know someone who isn’t capable of making their own decisions and doesn’t have anyone to act on their behalf?
If you answered yes, the Public Trustee may be able to help. This organization operates as part of the New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission. The Public Trustee’s Office is an organization made up of a team of professionals who step in to make decisions for people when no one else is able or available.
Generally speaking, the Public Trustee can be appointed to make personal, health care, legal and/or financial decisions for someone once a court declares they are no longer capable of managing their affairs, and there is no one willing or able to do that for them.
The Public Trustee can also be appointed to:
- act for a person who names the Public Trustee as attorney under the terms of a power of attorney.
- act as executor under a will or administrator of the property of a deceased person.
- make legal or financial decisions for someone legally presumed to be dead.
- protect a person’s financial interests, if appointed by a court. (For example, if a child receives money from an estate or life insurance settlement and there is no one available to manage the money, the public trustee may be appointed by the court to manage the funds until the child is an adult.)
As a service of last resort, the Public Trustee is there to protect the interests of vulnerable people who no longer have the capacity to manage their own affairs and there isn’t anyone available to act on their behalf.
The two most commonly used services of the Public Trustee have different criteria:
- For the Public Trustee to take over as a substitute decision-maker for an adult who is unable to manage their affairs and no one is able or available to do this for them, the vulnerable person must be:
- a resident of New Brunswick,
- living in hospital (and no longer able to go home), in a nursing home or other long-term care facility, and
- have been declared permanently and irreversibly incapable of making their own decisions by a court.
- If you want to name the Public Trustee as attorney in a power of attorney, you must:
- have the mental capacity to go through the application process to name the Public Trustee as attorney in your power of attorney. (However, the Public Trustee will only act as attorney once you have been declared by a court to be incapable of making your own decisions and placed in a long-term care facility.)
- engage your own lawyer to name the Public Trustee as attorney.
Any individual – including a family member, physician, health care provider or a social worker – can make a referral to the Public Trustee. Referrals for Public Trustee services must be made in writing by completing an application. Someone can self-refer if they are interested in naming the Public Trustee as attorney in a power of attorney, and they must also fill out an application.
Fill out the application for the service you are looking for, found here.
Once you have completed the application for the service you are looking for, you can print it out and fax it to (506) 444-3500 or email it to Public.trustee@gnb.ca. You can also send a printed copy to:
Public Trustee Services
412 Queen Street, Suite 210
Fredericton, N.B. E3B 1B6
The Public Trustee’s intake officer receives the application and verifies the information it contains. As part of that process, applicants should expect a call from the Public Trustee’s Office so staff can check information, such as next of kin, Medicare numbers and other personal information.
The Public Trustee’s Office reviews the application to determine whether it meets the organization’s criteria for service. The approval process can be lengthy, often taking several months. To assess each application, the Public Trustee must obtain information from third parties, such as doctors for medical reports about mental capacity, and that can take time. Once a decision is made, the Public Trustee’s Office provides a written response to notify applicants about whether they are approved for service. At that point, the legal team will apply to the court to obtain a court order, which provides the Public Trustee the authority to manage the personal and financial affairs for the person declared to be incapable of making their own decisions. This process can take several months as well.
Depending on the type of service you are looking for, there are three forms to choose from:
- For an application to appoint the Public Trustee as power of attorney or executor, click here.
- For an application of referral for the Public Trustee to administer an estate, click here.
- For an application to appoint the Public Trustee to make decisions for someone who isn’t capable of taking care of their own affairs, click here.