Enduring Power of Attorney

Planning for the future is something we should always be doing. One aspect of planning for the future is appointing your own Enduring Power of Attorney.

Everyone has the right to make their own choices in life, however any one of us can be taken by illness or become injured to the point that they are unable to make decisions for a certain period of time, or should the illness/injury be particularly drastic, forever.

To aid you should that hypothetical situation occur, you can appoint someone to make important financial and personal decisions for you. This is the essence of an Enduring Power of Attorney.

An Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone (an attorney) to make certain decisions of an aforementioned matter for you. Their power to do so carries on whilst you are unable to make decisions.

You can elect your own Enduring Power of Attorney, so long as you are over the age of 18. You are only able to pick your own Enduring Power of Attorney, you cannot pick anyone else’s. It is also important that you remember this person cannot make any medical decisions unless they are also your Medical Treatment Decision Maker.

Should you have a matter regarding your Enduring Power of Attorney you can apply for VCAT to hear you issue. VCAT decide on all matters regarding Enduring Power of Attorney’s. VCAT will hear applications about:

• Whether power is valid
• An Attorney’s power under the Enduring Power of Attorney
• Cancelling (revoking) or suspending the Enduring Power of Attorney
• Varying the Enduring Power by revoking to appointment of one attorney
• Auditing accounts or other documents
• Compensating the principal (person who appointed the attorney) for a loss caused by the attorney

If you want to revoke your Enduring Power of Attorney to VCAT you must ensure that you can present VCAT with a report from the doctor who deemed you unfit to make decisions on financial and personal matters. Once you lose decision making capabilities only VCAT can revoke the Enduring Power of Attorney. You must also be able to prove that the Enduring Power of Attorney is not performing the roles defined in the Power of Attorney Act of 2014.

To Apply to the VCAT you must be one of:

• The Principal
• The nearest relative of the Principal
• An attorney or supportive attorney under the Enduring Power of Attorney
• You have a special interest in the affairs of the Principal

As the premier legal firm in the City of Casey, Wollerman Shacklock should be your first port of call if you have any more questions about the Enduring Power of Attorney or would like to discuss your own options in regard to topic. We have years of experience and can provide you with the right legal advice. If you would like to get in touch with us you can do so by calling us 9707 1155 or you can send us an email at – admin@wslegal.com.au

Source: (publicadvocate.vic.gov.au) (vcat.vic.gov.au)