2017 Bi-Monthly Update Series: March/April

To keep you informed, here are some highlights of changes and updates made to Clicklaw in March and April:

Jan-Feb | Mar-Apr | May-Jun | Jul-Aug | Sep-Oct | Nov-Dec


Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia

  • Navigator for Youth Transitioning to Adult Services
    Youth with disabilities in BC face challenges when transitioning from childhood to adult services. This program helps youth aged 14 to 25, their parents and members of their Transition Support Teams, connect with the services they need, such as disability benefits, health services, or school supports.

Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)

Disability Alliance BC

The following help sheets are now available in 5 languages: Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Persian, Punjabi, Spanish.

Legal Services Society

Nidus Personal Planning Resource Centre and Registry

People’s Law School

Each of the following publications now has a fresh new look, new content, and more practical guidance. Both are available in multiple media formats: wikibook, EPUB (for reading on a tablet or e-reader), PDF (print version), and printed booklet (order via Crown Publications).

  • Essentials of Consumer Law
    Explains consumer rights for common purchases and contracts. Now includes a new section on making a contract.
  • Scams to Avoid
    Covers 15 of the most common scams. Now includes new sections on romance scams, charity scams, and expanded coverage of online and computer scams.

Provincial Court of British Columbia

  • Guidelines for Using a Support Person in Provincial Court
    Many self-represented litigants find that having a trusted friend or family member with them to provide emotional support, take notes, and organize documents can be a big help. The BC Provincial Court recognizes this, and has adopted guidelines to make it easier to bring a support person to court.

Common Question – Provincial Court Resources for Everyone: Small Claims Court

On June 1, 2017, the limit for small claims will increase to $35,000 from $25,000. This page has been updated to include this information and a link to the New Small Claims Procedures from the Provincial Court of BC. Note: The Provincial Court Resources pages will be updated for May 2017.

Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL)

  • Older Women’s Dialogue Project
    This project looks at law and social policy issues that affect older woman and explores what can be done to address barriers to their quality of life.
  • Older Women’s Legal Education Project
    A collaboration with West Coast LEAF, this project tries to enhance the capacity of seniors-serving professionals to support older women fleeing violence occurring in the family and to inform older women of their rights in situations of abuse.

Stay informed:

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Do you have a will?

Printable PDF handouts with accessible Wills and Personal Planning Resources for all audiences

Wills are essential tools for responsible planning and are applicable to persons considered “mentally capable” and 16 or older in BC.

Completing a will is usually a relief.  If you have been thinking about a will for yourself or if you have family members who have yet to take that step, the next few weeks are an excellent time to start.

April 9-15, 2017 is Make-a-Will Week, and a number of organizations and legal professionals are coming together to donate their time and effort to help people write their will or bring an existing will up to date.

Don’t forget about Personal Planning

A will doesn’t mean you’re totally covered — if you don’t know about Representation Agreements, Enduring Powers of Attorney and other personal planning documents, you’ll want to read more about these important legal planning documents with experts like Nidus Personal Planning Resource Centre and Registry.

What events are going on?

On April 22, 10am-2pm, call 604 687-3221 OR 1-800-663-1919 for a free 15 minute consultation with a lawyer

Make a Will Week is closely followed by Law Week, so there are a lot of events happening in the month of April. We covered a variety in our last post on April Events.

For example, the CBA BC is holding its province-wide Dial-a-Lawyer day on Saturday, April 22, 2017 from 10am – 2pm where anyone can call 604 687-3221 or 1-800-663-1919 for a free 15-minute consultation with a Wills and Estates Lawyer. They also cover other areas of law: Business, Employment, Family, Immigration and Tort & Motor Vehicle.

Nidus is holding online and in-person presentations about Personal Planning — legal documents for health care, personal care, financial and legal matters.

People’s Law School in collaboration with various organizations are holding many Public Legal Education Law Classes across BC on various topics, ranging from Writing a Will and Probating a Will to Strata Law.

I want to learn more about making my will. What do I read? Who do I call?

At the Wills and Personal Planning Resources page on the Courthouse Libraries BC website, there is a comprehensive list of free or nominal fee resources and services for everyone—from lawyers to people who aren’t familiar with the law. The webpage contains the full list of resources, services and events. The PDF handouts (printable, shareable) contain examples of types of help that can be found on the webpage, and contain a short bit.ly link that forwards to the webpage.

If you would like to make a suggestion for a resource, please email us.

Want to share the Wills & Personal Planning Resources page? Use this short redirect URL: http://bit.ly/CLBCwills

Stay informed:

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