Powers of Attorney

You can appoint one or more persons to act on your behalf for defined purposes, such as the sale of your house, managing business affairs, or acting on your behalf when you are overseas. A general power of attorney operates only while you have legal capacity.

You can use an enduring power of attorney to authorise another person to conduct financial or personal affairs on your behalf. An enduring power of attorney can start immediately or when you specify it to start, such as when you no longer have decision-making capacity due to illness. The validity of an Enduring Power of Attorney, unlike a General Power of Attorney, continues once your legal capacity is lost.

You can appoint a medical treatment decision-maker to make decisions about your medical treatment if you are too unwell or unable to make such decisions yourself. A medical treatment decision-maker must act in the way that they reasonably believe you would have if you had the capacity to make the decision.

An advance care directive can be used to set out your binding instructions or preferences and values about your medical treatment.

Get in touch with our team to learn more about which document will best suit your situation.

• Select a Trusted Advocate

Opt for someone you trust to honour your wishes and act in your best interests when making critical decisions on your behalf.

• Efficient and Reliable Support

Seek out a dependable and detail-oriented individual who possesses the organisational skills, capability, and dedicated time required to effectively manage the responsibilities associated with being a Power of Attorney for you.

• Capable Healthcare Decision-Maker

Choose someone who is not only compassionate and understanding, but also competent in making informed medical decisions if you are ever unable to do so yourself.

• Diverse Decision-Making Team

Consider appointing multiple individuals as your Power of Attorney to bring a range of expertise and perspectives to the table, enhancing the quality of decisions made on your behalf. You may wish to choose a family member, a trusted friend, a skilled lawyer for legal matters, a knowledgeable accountant for financial decisions, or a qualified medical practitioner for healthcare choices.

Sometimes you know ahead of time that you will need an Attorney to act on your behalf, such as when you plan an overseas trip and need someone back at home who is authorised to sign documents for things such as asset sales. However, life events such as illness or injury don’t come with warnings in advance and it’s good to be prepared to receive assistance from your nominated Attorney at these times.

If you lose legal capacity without already having a Power of Attorney in place, it is a separate and more complicated process through VCAT to have someone appointed as your attorney. In this instance you would have less control over who is acting on your behalf, and less chance to instruct them on your values and wishes.

Anyone over the age of 18 can consider preparing a Power of Attorney as a layer of legal protection should the day come when you need someone to stand in for you. Once you have considerations such as a spouse, children, assets, liabilities or medical conditions, it is even more important to prepare a Power of Attorney in case the unexpected should arise.

Ready to take the first step? Talk to our team.