A Power of Attorney is a legal document which authorises someone to act on your behalf and manage your affairs. The person you appoint to make decisions on your behalf is called your attorney.
There are two types of Power of Attorney. These are:
- General Power of Attorney;
- Enduring Power of Attorney.
General Power of Attorney
A General Power of Attorney gives a person the authority to make decisions on your behalf. However, this power is revoked once you lose the capacity to manage your affairs. This is typically used to make decisions when a person is overseas, or temporarily unable to execute documents.
Enduring Power of Attorney
Enduring Power of Attorney is used to appoint someone to make legal and financial decisions for you in the event that you lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself. It’s also used to appoint someone to make financial and health decisions on your behalf such as your living arrangements if you have lost the ability to make decisions for yourself.
The kinds of decisions your Attorney can make include:
- Financial Attorney: paying bills, dealing with Centrelink, taxation, investments, legal matters, and property management.
- Personal/health Attorney: your living arrangements, your health care, your diet, and dress.
Who should be an Attorney?
Firstly, the person must be over the age of eighteen years old. This is due to the fact that your Attorney has many duties the decision making of your health and financial decisions. Therefore, you must have someone who:
- You trust to make the decisions in line with your wishes;
- Is in a position geographically, financially and practically to make decisions for you;
- Understands the implications of being an Attorney.
What if I don’t have an Attorney?
If you do lose the capacity to make decisions on your own behalf, then decisions concerning your health and finances may not be in line with your wishes. These decisions may also be made by some whom you don’t desire. Further, if a person who is not a family of a friend is not designate as an Attorney, the Public Trustee may be designated. This can cause significant cost and stress. Platinum Lawyers can assist in overcoming these problems.
Can I revoke a power of Attorney?
Yes, as long as you still have the decision-making capacity to do so you can revoke or change these documents. This has to be done in a legally binding way, so please let Platinum Lawyers assist you. Further, in Queensland, if a new Power of Attorney is created, any prior dated ones are void.
How Platinum Lawyers can assist
- Send our team an email and let us know your needs by following this link Contact Us
- We will provide you instruction sheets. We can either do this in person, or we can send these to you via mail or email.
- After carefully reviewing your instructions we will advise you on the implications and effects of your instructions.
- We can then organise the signing and executing of these documents.
- Platinum Lawyers also offers safe and secure storage for these documents, or you can take them home.