There can be a multitude of reasons why you will need someone else to act on your behalf – you may be travelling overseas where communication is difficult or you may be experiencing a serious health problem such as lengthy hospital stays or loss of mental capacity.
This is where a Power of Attorney comes in. The grant of a Power of Attorney can either be made as a general grant for a particular purpose and for a particular time frame as long as the purpose of the grant does not relate to medical or personal matters; or as an enduring grant for an unlimited time frame for financial, personal and health matters.
It is important to distinguish between a grant of power of attorney and a will. A grant of power of attorney can only be used when the person granting the power is alive. Should that person die, then the grant of power of attorney ceases to be of effect and the Will takes over.
Everyone should consider appointing someone to act as their enduring attorney. The choice of an attorney should be taken with a lot of care and thought and should be someone you have complete trust in. When appointing someone as your enduring attorney you can specify exactly in which circumstance that person will act as your attorney. An example is the circumstance where you have been assessed by a medical practitioner as having lost capacity. To remove someone as an attorney is also possible by you expressly revoking that power.
By appointing an enduring attorney you are protecting yourself against the possibility that should you one day lose capacity to manage your own affairs, you will not put your financial position at risk. It is an insurance policy worth having!
Tove – Easton Lawyers
Ph 5478 6500 tove@eastonlawyers.com.au
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