A BC lawyer used an elderly client’s trust account and power of attorney to help himself to her money and estate. A Law Society of British Columbia panel reached that finding on September 24, 2026. It ruled the Vernon lawyer crossed the line from trusted advisor to self-dealing.
The panel accepted an agreed statement of facts and found professional misconduct on all four counts. The BC lawyer resigned from practice in July 2025 and is now a former member.
How the BC Lawyer Gained Control
The lawyer started acting for the client in 2017, when she was 84. Over time he became both her lawyer and her attorney under a power of attorney. That legal tool let him step in and manage her affairs as her memory began to fade.
Instead of protecting her interests, the panel found, he used that access to benefit himself. The Wealth Professional report on the ruling traces the pattern across property, cash and her will.
Condo Transfer and Trust Account Withdrawals
In July 2021, he had her sign over half of her Vernon condo, worth an estimated $385,000. The transfer named him as joint owner and went through the land title office that December.
Acting under her power of attorney, he then moved $116,866.16 out of her trust account. The money went into a company he owned, without her authorization, the panel found.
That cash helped him buy his own $340,000 home. It also covered a payout in an unrelated client’s file.
Promissory Notes Never Repaid
To make the loan story stick, he had the client sign two promissory notes. One was for $81,886.16 and the other for $35,000. Each promised 5 per cent interest on money she had supposedly lent his company.
Neither note has ever been repaid. The BC lawyer argued the transfers should count as an improper withdrawal rather than outright misappropriation. The panel disagreed, ruling that he knew he was acting outside his authority.
A New Will Named the Lawyer as Beneficiary
In March 2022, he drafted a new will for the client. It named him as executor and as beneficiary of 75 per cent of her estate.
None of these steps came with independent legal advice for the client: not the property transfer, the loans or the will. She was later diagnosed with vascular dementia, and a complaint reached the Law Society in 2023.
What the BC Lawyer Ruling Means for Advisors
The report called the case a cautionary tale for anyone who manages money for aging clients. It adds to the trust and accountability concerns facing the legal industry.
For advisors, accountants and others with clients showing signs of cognitive decline, the report’s takeaway is simple. A power of attorney is a tool for protecting a client, not a shortcut to their assets.
The report urged professionals to watch for sudden changes to wills or property titles. It also flagged transfers that quietly benefit a trusted professional, and clients who can no longer explain their own finances.
It called for independent advice before anyone in a position of trust ends up on both sides of a deal. That lesson sits beside other training demands on legal professionals, from ethics to new tools.
This ruling deals only with what happened. A decision on sanctions against the former BC lawyer, if any, will come later.
