Nevertheless, the following processes, short of termination, can be used to
control a guardian’s actions:
a. Passing of AccountsWhile the Court, when issuing an order appointing a guardian of property, should
also order a mandatory passing of accounts at some point in the future, such as
two years, this is not always done, particularly if the guardian did not seek such
an order. If no other party, such as the PGT, makes the request, the Court does
not often impose the requirement on its own initiative.
Neither the court nor the PGT tend to take the initiative to ensure that guardians
are ordered to pass their accounts on a regular basis or even have their accounts
reviewed. While the PGT takes the position that every guardian should pass
their accounts at least once, it is not clear at what point the PGT will take steps to
enforce this. The PGT may, however, assist in obtaining financial information
from a statutory guardian. Even if no formal passing of accounts is required, a
person under a guardianship is entitled to receive financial information, or an
informal accounting, upon request.
In most cases, however, if a court appointed guardian does not provide an
accounting, formal or informal, it is usually necessary for the incapable person to
take action to obtain a court order obliging the guardian to pass their accounts.^34
If there is evidence of possible wrong-doing it may also be possible to seek an
order from the Court suspending the powers of the guardian and appointing the
PGT as temporary guardian until the issue is resolved.
The court, upon a passing of accounts, may force a guardian to reimburse any
amounts found to be unreasonable uses of the incapable person’s funds. This
process involves litigation and the incapable person may end up paying for both
(^34) See Substitute Decisions Act, 1992, s 42(1).