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It's In Your Hands

Everyone has questions about laws that affect our lives. Our questions may change over time with life events as we grow up, move into the workforce, start a family, care for loved ones, plan for retirement and become older adults ourselves.

It's In Your Hands aims to:

  • increase understanding of everyday legal issues
  • help people plan for the future, with a focus on preventing legal problems and
  • increase family members', friends', caregivers', and service providers' knowledge and understanding of legal and financial issues affecting older adults.

Download the entire book for offline viewing
pdf Its' In Your Hand(3.88 MB)

Or browse it right here

It's In Your Hands: Legal Information for Seniors and their Families has legal information on the following topics:

  1. Abuse of Older Adults
  2. Adult Capacity and Representative Decision-making
  3. Dating and New Relationships
  4. Funeral Pre-Planning,
  5. Grandparents' Rights
  6. Health and Other Personal Care Decisions
  7. Power of Attorney
  8. Public Trustee
  9. Scams, Identity Theft and Other Fraud
  10. Wills
  11. What do the words mean?


This free webinar covers all the key topics in the It’s In Your Hands guide and video series, helping you make informed decisions and avoid common legal pitfalls.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: This publication explains the law in a general way as it applies in Nova Scotia, Canada. The information is not intended as legal advice. If you have a legal problem, contact a lawyer for advice about what steps you should take in your situation. We thank the Law Foundation of Nova Scotia, the Department of Justice Canada, and the Nova Scotia Department of Justice for providing core funding for our services, which makes publications like this possible.

The information in It's In Your Hands is current to March 2023.  We try to keep information accurate and up-to-date.  However, laws do change.  You should check with a lawyer or contact us for information about changes to the laws mentioned.

The first edition of this publication was a project of the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS) in partnership with the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging (NSCA), Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, with funding from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program.

We thank the many individuals, including seniors and practitioners, who have provided feedback, expert input and advice on sections of the guide for this and previous editions.

We particularly thank the following for reviewing, editing, and providing expert feedback on sections of the guide for the fourth and fifth editions:

  • Nova Scotia Public Trustee Office;
  • Mary Jane Abram;
  • Allyson O’Shea and Adriana Meloni, Nova Scotia Department of Justice;
  • Ilana Luther, Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia;
  • Paul Stordy, Nova Scotia Legal Aid;
  • Jeanne Desveaux, KC, Barrister & Solicitor;
  • Barbara Darby;
  • Jessica Lyle, TEP, Touchstone Legal;
  • Erin O’Brien Edmonds KC, TEP, Arcus Legal;
  • Victoria Apold;
  • Jonathan Hughes, JTH Law;
  • Peter Duke and Claire McNeil, Dalhousie Legal Aid Service; and,
  • Shelley Hounsell-Gray, KC, Blackburn Law.

We thank the Law Foundation of Nova Scotia, the Department of Justice Canada, and the Nova Scotia Department of Justice for providing core funding for our services, and the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors and Justice Canada for providing funding to support this publication. We thank members of the Public Legal Education Association of Canada for permission to adapt some of their content for use in this publication.