Enduring Powers of Attorney
There are three documents every adult should have in their “legal tool-box”. A legally valid Will, an Enduring Power of Attorney in relation to Property and an Enduring Power of Attorney in relation to Personal Care and Welfare.
Other documents will come in and out of your legal tool-box, but these three documents should always be there.
Enduring Powers of Attorney are important because they do exactly what their name suggests. They endure, or have effect, even if you lose mental capacity.
There are two types of Enduring Power of Attorney.
Property
In this instance, property doesn’t just mean your home but includes anything in your name, such as bank accounts, insurances, utilities or any other assets you own.
Your Attorney will make decisions for you regarding your assets, always making sure they keep firmly in mind what you would do, if you were able to make the decision for yourself.
You can decide when this Enduring Power of Attorney comes into effect.
Personal Care and Welfare
Your Attorney will make decisions for you regarding your living arrangements, medical treatment and anything else relating to your personal care. Again, they should ensure they are making the decisions you would make for yourself, if you were able to.
This Enduring Power of Attorney only comes into effect if you are diagnosed by a doctor as having lost the capacity to make decisions for yourself.
The most critical factor in appointing any Attorney, whether for Property or Personal Care & Welfare, is to appoint people who have the skill set for the tasks you are asking them to do and whose judgment and abilities you trust implicitly.
Process of Appointment of Welfare Guardian
If you have lost mental capacity and you don’t have Enduring Powers of Attorney your family have the ability to apply to the Family Court to have someone appointed as your welfare guardian and / or property administrator or property manager.
The difference, of course, is that this is a court process which will almost certainly take longer to complete and will cost much more.
For all of those reasons, Enduring Powers of Attorney, along with a valid Will, are incredibly important documents. They are like personal insurance as you are ensuring that people that you know, love and trust have the ability to make decisions for you if you cannot make decisions for yourself.
When you are making a decision about your Enduring Powers of Attorney, it is important you get good advice from a team who understand how your decisions may impact on you and your legal requirements in later years. Please contact Fleur McDonald on 03 365 1595. Together we can explore how we can help you find the best solution to meet your legal needs.
