The importance of having Enduring Powers of Attorney is to ensure that at any point during your lifetime if you are assessed by a medical practitioner and it is determined you have lost capacity, then you have named a person/s for whom you wish to step into your shoes to make decisions on your behalf. Having Enduring Powers of Attorney mitigates any delays in medical decisions being made or financial responsibilities being carried out on your behalf should you lose capacity as your appointed attorney would take immediate responsibility of these on your behalf. There are two separate Enduring Powers of Attorney, one in relation to Property, which manages your finances and assets, and the other in relation to Personal Care & Welfare, which manages any health or wellbeing decisions. It is a requirement of all Retirement Villages that any person/s applying are to have both Enduring Powers of Attorney in place before their application will be considered. Whilst many people feel Enduring Powers of Attorney are not important, we cannot express enough how in many cases they can be the most important document you ever sign as once it has been determined that you have lost capacity, it is too late, and you are unable to have these prepared. At this stage it becomes a Court application, and a person within your family would be required to apply to Court outlining why they should be appointed as Welfare Guardian and/or Property Manager for you. A Court application for Welfare Guardian and Property Manager can be an extensive and costly process and no one will be able to make decisions on your behalf until the Court approves the application. This can cause many issues for particularly your family or anyone caring for you as no one will be able to access your accounts to pay any bills or expenses for you nor will they be able to make any decisions relating to your wellbeing, such as going into care. Enduring Powers of Attorney can be prepared at any point whilst you have capacity to do so. They are in place for your lifetime or until such time where you terminate, revoke, or replace them with new ones. Don’t wait until it is too late, come in and get them done. Written by Leanni Browne.
