Enduring Power of Attorney

Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) will allow a named person to take care of your personal or financial matters if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself. The EPA is a document that names a person (called your attorney), who will have the power to act for you and make decisions. Although it is not required to have a lawyer as your attorney, it should be someone that you know will make the right decisions for you. This could be two or more people, although you need to say if they can act alone, must all agree on all decisions or if decisions can be made by a majority of the attorneys.

Accidents and serious illness can happen to everyone and you could be hospitalised or incapacitated for an extended period. You need to make sure your loved ones are being looked after if they are relying on you. Someone needs to make sure the mortgage and other bills are paid. This is the role of the attorney when Enduring Powers of Attorney have been set up.

Your attorney may be called on to make important decisions when you are no longer able to, so it’s important to think carefully and select the right person as your attorney. We can help you work through the pros and cons of this important decision. People often name a partner or family member and also a successor attorney. The successor attorneys take responsibility if the attorney who was named originally can no longer perform that role. You can also name a professional as your attorney, such as an accountant or lawyer. Generally speaking, naming a professional as your attorney requires that person to be paid, however, this is often an excellent choice in terms of getting experienced unbias decisions and ultimately the best result for you and your loved ones.

Life can be uncertain and you never know what’s around the next bend. We recommend that you act now and get EPA set up as soon as possible. It is important for every adult to have an EPA set up. It’s peace of mind not only for you but also for your family. Give us a call today and we can get started!

Types of EPA

There are two different types of EPA:

• Property EPA which covers assets, money, possessions and can come into effect before you lose mental capacity. You can have more than one attorney this scenario
• Personal Care and Welfare EPA which covers your health, accommodation and care decisions. It requires a decision from a medical professional or the Family Court to say you have become ‘mentally incapable’. In this instance, you can only one attorney.