Power of Attorneys

Power of Attorney

Having a power of attorney in place can be a helpful way to manage your finances by appointing someone you trust to act on your behalf in your best interests. To help you better understand powers of attorney and understand what power you should give to your attorney, the ABA Safe & Savvy Guide provides information on this topic.

A power of attorney for financial decisions is a legal document that enables you to appoint another person to make financial decisions on your behalf. To appoint an attorney, you must understand what sort of decisions the attorney can make for you, how long they would have that authority and the effect the attorney’s power could have on you and your finances.

There are two types of power of attorney:

General power of attorney (non-enduring)
Enduring power of attorney

General Power of Attorney (non-enduring)

A general power of attorney allows one or more attorneys to make legally binding and financial decisions on your behalf for a specific time period or purpose. It is important to seek advice before granting this type of authority, as it will end if you become incapable of making decisions or managing your finances.

A general power of attorney may be useful if you wish to put in place a temporary formal arrangement for a specific purpose such as appointing someone to buy or sell real estate or trade shares on your behalf while you are away for a period of time, such as on holiday.

Enduring Power of Attorney

An enduring power of attorney grants your appointed attorney(s) the power to make decisions for you if you become incapable of doing so. An enduring power of attorney can either begin immediately or take effect only after you lose decision-making capacity.

An enduring power of attorney should be used to put a lasting formal arrangement in place, including:

Planning for future changes to your decision-making capacity due to illness, accident, or injury
In anticipation of losing the ability to manage your financial affairs.

If you don’t have an enduring power of attorney in place and you lose capacity to make and communicate decisions for yourself, a financial administration order may be required, as you will no longer have the capacity to appoint someone to act on your behalf.

It may be helpful to get legal advice to understand:

The risks of appointing an attorney;
The attorney’s responsibilities;
To ensure the terms of the appointment meet your specific needs.

You or your attorney can visit your nearest branch to lodge a power of attorney. We will require:

The original or a certified copy (certified by a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Declarations or Solicitor) of the power of attorney; and
Proof of identify of each attorney; and
If the power of attorney starts when you have lost capacity, a medical certificate, doctor’s letter or declaration by a state or territory-based administrative tribunal will be required to confirm that you have lost capacity to make financial decisions.