If a parent or adult family member has lost the ability to manage their own affairs and never signed a protection mandate, the path forward is usually tutorship. This guide explains what tutorship is, when a family needs it, how the process works in Quebec, and what the role of the tutor actually involves once the Court issues the order.
What tutorship is
Tutorship to a person of full age (in French, tutelle au majeur) is a court-ordered protection regime that lets a trusted person make decisions on behalf of an adult who has lost the capacity to make those decisions on their own. Since the 2022 reform of Quebec's protection regimes, tutorship is the only court-ordered protection regime that remains. The older regimes called curatelle and conseil au majeur were abolished. For more on what changed, see what is a régime de protection.
A tutor can be appointed for the person, for the property, or for both, depending on what the adult actually needs. The Court tailors the order to the person's situation. The starting point is always: the smallest amount of protection necessary, not the largest.
When a family needs tutorship
Tutorship is the right path when both of the following are true:
- The adult is no longer able to look after themselves or their property in a meaningful way; and
- There is no protection mandate that can be homologated instead.
If a protection mandate was signed when the person was still capable, the family does not apply for tutorship. They homologate the mandate. Tutorship is the framework for situations where no advance planning was done, or where the planning that was done turns out to be insufficient.
The most common scenarios I see:
- An aging parent who never signed a mandate, often because the family did not realize a power of attorney does not cover incapacity.
- A young adult with an intellectual disability or autism aging out of the youth-services system, where decision-making capacity has always been limited and a structure is needed for the adult years.
- An adult who has experienced a sudden incapacity from injury, stroke, or illness, with no prior mandate in place.
How the process works
A typical tutorship application moves through several stages:
1. A notary or lawyer prepares the file
The application is a formal court process. Most families work with a notary or a lawyer who prepares the paperwork, gathers the supporting reports, and files with the Court. Some files are handled through the non-contentious procedure at a notary's office; others go through the court process. The route depends on whether the family is aligned, who is being proposed as tutor, and the complexity of the property involved.
2. Two reports are required
The Court needs two evaluations:
- A medical evaluation, completed by a physician, that documents the underlying clinical picture.
- A psychosocial evaluation, completed by a social worker who is a member of the OTSTCFQ, that documents how the person is functioning in their actual life: autonomy, support system, ability to make decisions about person and property, and the recommended scope of the tutorship.
For tutorship specifically, the psychosocial evaluation tends to be more in-depth than for mandate homologation, because the report is also recommending what kind of protection fits. For more on what the evaluation involves, see what to expect at a psychosocial evaluation.
3. A family meeting (assemblée de parents)
For tutorship to a person of full age, the law requires a meeting of relatives, allies, and friends to give an opinion on the application. This is sometimes called an assemblée de parents, alliés ou amis. The meeting nominates a proposed tutor and, where required, a tutorship council to oversee the tutor's work. The notary or lawyer organizes this meeting.
If the family is aligned, this step is straightforward. If there is disagreement about who should be tutor or how the role should be divided, this is where it surfaces. A meeting that runs into conflict can add weeks or months to the timeline.
4. The Court reviews and decides
Once the application, the two evaluations, and the family-meeting recommendation are filed, the Court reviews the file. In uncontested cases, the matter is often decided on paper, sometimes with a brief hearing. In contested cases, a fuller hearing is required and the timeline lengthens.
Who can be tutor
The Court generally appoints a close family member (a spouse, an adult child, a sibling, or a parent) when one is willing and suitable. A friend or other trusted person can also be appointed. For complex property matters, the Court may appoint a professional tutor for property while a family member acts as tutor to the person.
If no suitable private person is available, the Curateur public du Québec can be appointed as a tutor of last resort. Most families prefer to keep the role within their own circle when possible, because a private tutor knows the person and their wishes in a way the Curateur public cannot.
What the tutor can and cannot do
The Court order defines the tutor's exact powers. In general, a tutor of the person can make decisions about housing, medical care, daily routine, and contact with others. A tutor of the property can manage bank accounts, pay bills, file taxes, sell or maintain real estate, and otherwise manage the person's assets within the scope of the order.
What a tutor cannot do:
- Override the wishes of the person being protected when those wishes can still be expressed and respected.
- Make significant financial decisions outside the scope of the order without authorization, especially decisions involving the sale of immovable property.
- Skip the regular reports and accountings the Curateur public requires.
Tutorship is a regime of protection, not control. The principle, especially since the 2022 reform, is to preserve the person's autonomy as much as possible while filling in only where they cannot fill in for themselves.
Supervision and accountability
The tutor is supervised. The Curateur public reviews periodic reports on how the person is doing and how their property is being managed. A tutorship council, made up of family members or trusted others, may also have a role in oversight, depending on the order. The reports are usually filed annually.
This is not paperwork for its own sake. The supervision is what protects against the rare cases where a tutor would otherwise be tempted to act in their own interest rather than the person's. Most tutors find the structure useful: it tells them what good practice looks like.
Cost and timeline
For most uncontested tutorship files in Quebec, the total professional fees fall in a range similar to mandate homologation but with two differences. The psychosocial evaluation portion typically runs $2,500 to $4,000 because the report is more in-depth. Notary or legal fees can be somewhat higher because the Court has to determine who should be tutor. Plan for one to three months longer than a mandate homologation. Full breakdown in how much does homologation cost.
If you are at the start of a tutorship file
- Confirm there is no protection mandate. Check with the parent's notary; the Chambre des notaires keeps a central register.
- Get the medical evaluation moving. The medical piece often takes the longest. Family doctor or geriatrician, depending on the situation.
- Talk to a notary or lawyer who handles these files regularly. Tutorship is a more complex application than mandate homologation, and a practitioner who does this work often is faster and cleaner.
- Have a conversation with the family. Who is willing to be tutor? Is everyone aligned? Disagreement is the single biggest source of delay in these files.
If you are not sure whether your family's situation calls for tutorship, mandate homologation, or one of the lighter measures, the fastest way to find out is a short conversation. I offer free 15-minute consultations and can usually point you in the right direction within that call.