Powers of attorney
An enduring power of attorney appoints someone to make financial and property decisions when you cannot. Medical treatment sits in a second document. Both have to be signed while you still have capacity, which is why they cannot wait for a diagnosis.
Fixed fee
from $330
Timeline
One meeting, signed the same day
What you keep
Copies for your bank and doctor
Where we sign
Two documents, one appointment
Fixed fee
Financial or medical, either or both
One meeting, signed the same day
Powers of attorney are the documents nobody thinks about until they cannot be made. Once capacity is gone the alternative is a tribunal application for an administrator: slower, public, and not your choice of person.
Two documents, not one
Money and property sit in an enduring power of attorney. Medical treatment sits in a separate appointment, usually alongside an advance care directive that records what you would actually want.
You stay in control of the terms
You can restrict what your attorney may do, require them to consult someone, and say that the appointment only begins if you lose capacity. Most people should do all three.
The medical half
A medical treatment decision maker speaks for you on treatment when you cannot. Paired with an advance care directive, which records what you would actually want, it spares your family from guessing in a corridor at two in the morning.
What it costs to get wrong
Without these documents, the alternative is a tribunal application: months of waiting, a public hearing, and an administrator who may be a stranger. The documents themselves take one appointment.
Where the copies go
Your attorney needs a certified copy, and so does your bank. We prepare both, and we keep the original here so nothing depends on a drawer at home.
Who this is for
Anyone over sixty, whatever their health
People with a diagnosis that may affect capacity
Anyone whose partner manages the money alone
Families with a member who travels or lives overseas
What the fee includes
Enduring power of attorney for financial and property decisions
Appointment of a medical treatment decision maker
An advance care directive recording your preferences
Certified copies for your bank, doctor and attorney
Questions
What people ask before they ring.
If yours is not here, it is a two-minute phone call and we will not put you on a list.
When does it start working?
Whenever you say. Most people choose for it to begin only if they lose capacity, which we record on the face of the document so a bank cannot argue about it later.
Who should I appoint?
Someone who will actually pick up the phone to a bank, and who lives close enough to sign things. Two attorneys acting jointly is common; four is a committee that cannot make a decision.
What if I have already lost capacity?
Then this document can no longer be made, and the alternative is an application to VCAT for an administrator. We can run that application, but it is slower, public, and not your choice of person.
