Care mandates of for acts of administration and for acts relating to the person.

(Caritas Romana, Roman daughter Pera who feeds father Cimon, sentenced to starvation in prison; De Mammelokker – Ghent)

1. From now on, you can indicate in advance who will manage your goods when you are no longer able to do it yourself. A mandate is an extrajudicial protection that is less poignant than special administration. Originally it was only applicable with regard to the property of the person, but with the law of 21.12.2018 it is also applicable for legal acts with regard to the person (eg in which care home, patient rights, ..). The mandatory is empowered to perform legal acts in the name and for the account of the principal. The protected person establishes the mandate by agreement. It is important that he is competent at that moment. It is precisely the intention that the mandate only takes effect as soon as the protected person can no longer act himself.

2. As mandator you choose whether it concerns a general or a special mandate. A general mandate enables the mandatory to perform all legal acts regarding the principal's assets. If it is specific legal acts or only acts for certain assets in which you wish to be represented, in this case you use a special mandate.

3. By incorporating control mechanisms into the agreement, you do not have to worry about abuse by the mandator. For example, you can appoint several mandators or an audit mandator. The office will be happy to help you work out such an agreement.

4. In principle, the mandatory assesses the moment when the principal actually becomes incapacitated and the extrajudicial protection commences. In order to avoid arbitrariness, the agreement may provide that the mandator must request a declaration of enforceability from the justice of the peace. To be valid, it is sufficient that the agreement is made in a private deed, which can also be drawn up by a lawyer. Some notaries seem to always want to use a notarial deed, but this is not required by law. However, if you want to be represented for an act that must be done by a notarial deed (such as a sale of a real estate), such as the sale of a real estate, the authorization must also be given in the form of an authentic deed.

5. The agreement can also be tailor-made, and also to avoid that the protected person ends up in a completely dependent position (eg minimum living allowance). Such an agreement must then be registered in a central register at the KFBN (fed.notaries).

That register can even include a statement in which the preference of the person as special administrator and / or counselor is indicated.

6. The mandator must regularly keep the protected person informed of the actions he performs and this is also best recorded. By law, this must be done at least once a year. If his interest conflicts with that of the protected person, an ad hoc mandator is appointed who will perform the act.

7. The justice of the peace ensures proper execution of the mandate. He himself, or at the request of the parties, the public prosecutor or any interested party can impose conditions or even stop the mandate. If he considers it necessary, he will place the protected person under special administration.

8. If you believe that the mandator is abusing his position, you can turn to the justice of the peace. We are happy to assist you with this. You can also end the agreement through the notary who registered the document. The termination must also be notified through the register.