Powers of Attorney Lawyers Gold Coast

Appointing an Enduring Power of Attorney

Should you become incapacitated, someone will need to make decisions about your personal and financial affairs on your behalf. You can elect who you wish to fill this role by creating an Enduring Power of Attorney. In doing so, you (the Principal) appoint another person (the Attorney) to make decisions on your behalf when you can no longer make those decisions yourself.

Different Attorneys for financial and personal matters

You do not have to appoint the same person to act as your attorney for both personal and financial matters. You may wish to appoint for example, your spouse as your Attorney for personal matters and your spouse together with your parent as your Attorney for financial matters, where they are to make decisions jointly. You can appoint any person over the age of 18 years as your attorney provided that they are not your paid carer or health-care provider, or in the case of your financial attorney, a bankrupt or insolvent. Your Attorney will need to accept the appointment and sign the document.

Divorce

If you have appointed your spouse as your attorney and you subsequently divorce, the Enduring Power of Attorney is revoked to the extent that it was given to your former spouse. You should then create a new Enduring Power of Attorney.

There are a number of other situations which may bring your Enduring Power of Attorney to an end and we can advise you further in this regard.

When to create an Enduring Power of Attorney

It is a good time to consider creating an Enduring Power of Attorney when you are conducting your estate planning. You should review your Enduring Power of Attorney in light of your personal circumstances as they change to ensure that your Attorney’s power has not ended, and take steps to create a new Enduring Power of Attorney as appropriate.

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