Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Advance Care Planning?

• Preparing a will is part of estate planning
• Making funeral arrangements is not part of ACP although it is an important way to prepare in the event of your death
• Discussing, planning and documenting who will inherit your estate when you die is also part of estate planning, not ACP

In Ontario, there is no specific age that determines when a child has the right to decide about his/her own medical treatment. A health care provider in Ontario must determine if the child has capacity to consent to treatment or refuse treatment. Readers may be surprised to learn that while parents may be consulted, it is the health care provider who must assess capacity to consent. In this context, capacity means whether the child understands, regardless of age, the information relevant to making a decision about treatment and be able to appreciate the reasonably foreseeable consequences of a decision. All persons are presumed to have capacity unless the health provider has reasonable grounds to believe the person is incapable.

In Ontario, it is not called a “Living Will” – this is outdated language. Instead you should appoint someone your Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

Legally speaking there is no such thing as a “living will” in Canada, even though it’s the more commonly recognized term.

A person may not be capable of making a decision today but may be capable tomorrow.

Some examples of temporary times might be:

-Alcohol or drug intoxication
-Medication side effects
-Infection causing confusion
-Dementia

Two people are considered partners if they:
– Are in a close personal relationship and have lived together for at least one year
– Both consider it to be the most important relationship they are in

This does not have to be a romantic relationship. It could be two close friends who live together, but more than just roommate relationship.

Even though Mary has dementia, if she is capable of understanding, and appreciating the situation and potential treatments, then she can make her own healthcare decisions, regardless of diagnosis.

An Attorney for Personal Care is someone who was appointed by the person while they were capable. This is done by filling out a document called Power of Attorney for Personal Care. The document will indicate which kinds of health and personal care decisions they can make on your behalf. Even if this person is not your spouse, they have legal authority to make decisions over the decision of your spouse.

Because Helen is widowed, she has no spouse or partner to make healthcare decisions for her. Next on the SDM hierarchy is her children. Because she has not officially made any one of them the Power of Attorney for Personal Care, they MUST now ALL agree on any healthcare decisions in order for them to be done.

• The definition of child may include step children if the stepparent helped raise and care for the child when still a minor.