Appointing a friend or family member as your Attorney is one of the most important decisions you may make in your lifetime. A Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint a person or persons, Trustee or organisation to manage your legal and financial affairs on your behalf.
There are two types of Power of Attorney documents:
- A General Power of Attorney (the appointment is for a specified period of time); and
- An Enduring Power of Attorney (the appointment is ongoing, even if you lose capacity, until it is revoked or you die).
A Power of Attorney is recommended for anyone in the event that you suffer from an unexpected, temporary or permanent loss of capacity, which could happen at any given time due to illness, injury, misadventure or disability.
If you do not have a Power of Attorney in place, a Court or Tribunal may appoint someone to manage your finances if you become unable to do so. This may be an individual person, persons, or a financial manager, such as through the NSW Trustee & Guardian. This can be a time consuming exercise and the appointment may not always be a person who you are content to have appointed as your financial manager.
A family member or next-of-kin cannot automatically step in to manage your affairs if something happens and you cannot.
A Power of Attorney should always be prepared by an experienced wills & estates solicitor – contact Tiyce & Lawyers, we are here when you need us.
