Powers of Attorney

Whilst you are alive, there might come a time when you can no longer make decisions for yourself.  Preparing an Enduring Power of Attorney allows you to appoint an attorney to act on your behalf for financial and/or health matters.  You can appoint an attorney to act for you immediately or when you lose mental capacity for your financial matters.  For health matters, your attorney will act on your behalf when you lose mental capacity.    Your attorney must be someone you trust and over the age of 18 years.  It cannot be your health care provider or a paid carer or a bankrupt.

A General Power of Attorney can be prepared for “one off” matters.  These types of appointments are usually used in business when one party is to be absent for a period of time and appoints an attorney to sign on his/her behalf.  The appointment does not endure past mental incapacity.

An Advanced Health Directive lets you state your wishes regarding your future health care for various medical conditions. The purpose of an Advanced Health Directive is to give you confidence that your wishes will be carried out if you cannot speak for yourself.  However, a request for euthanasia would not be followed, as this would be in breach of the law.  Anyone who is over eighteen years of age and is capable of understanding the nature of their directions and foreseeing the effects of those directions can make a Directive.  The Directive only is effective if you have lost the capacity to make your own decisions.  The Directive should be discussed with your doctor and your doctor must complete a Section of the form.