If you ever find yourself in a position where you’re unable to act on your own behalf, a Power of Attorney allows your nominated person to sign your cheques, cancel your insurances and even sell your home for you.

This might come into effect if your health deteriorates, or if you go overseas and handling things yourself at a distance becomes too complicated.

Powers of Attorney can be exceedingly helpful, ensuring things get done when they need doing, even if you yourself aren’t able to do them.

An ordinary Power of Attorney is used for temporary purposes, such as if you’re away overseas for a few months or simply out of reach for a period.

These Powers of Attorney are limited in their scope and usually only apply if you’re unable to act on your own behalf due to your absence or physical incapacity for a period. They are not effective in the event that you’re mentally incapacitated.

Your Attorney can do anything which you could do if you were physically present. The Attorney is effectively ‘you’ while you’re away.

As the name suggests, an enduring Power of Attorney grants your decision-making power to a person of your choice, but on a more permanent basis. This type of Attorney comes into effect where you are mentally incapacitated.

Enduring Powers of Attorney can relate to property or your personal care and welfare; you can choose to have separate Attorneys for each, or you can assign both to the same Attorney.

If you do not specify an Attorney while you are of sound mind and body, your family will need to go through a time-consuming and expensive court process to get someone assigned on your behalf.

The person the court chooses may not be the person you yourself would have chosen, and the delays and expense can hamper important decisions being made in a timely manner, so it’s in your best interest to get your choice of Attorney documented while you still have the capacity to do so.

For more detailed information on Enduring Powers of Attorney, download the documents below.

The experienced team at the Law Connection can advise you on the measures you can take to protect yourself and reduce the risk of problems arising with misuse of Power of Attorney.