A Power of Attorney is a legal document that appoints another person to manage your affairs and act on your behalf. This may include handling your financial/legal matters, medical/health care matters and/or lifestyle/personal matters. Personal matters include very intimate choices about things like where you live and what you wear and eat. The person you appoint is called an 'Attorney.' This is an expression and it does not mean that the person is a Lawyer or Solicitor.

There are 2 different types of Powers of Attorney, a General Power of Attorney and an Enduring Power of Attorney. A General Power of Attorney is used to appoint someone to make your financial/legal decisions but stops if you have impaired decision making ability. An Enduring Power of Attorney is used for financial/legal, personal or medical decisions and continues to operate if you have impaired decision making ability.

An Enduring Power of Attorney can give you peace of mind as it gives you control over who you want to look after your important affairs should anything ever happen to you. If you ever suffer a serious accident or illness and don't have an Enduring Power of Attorney in place, a Court can appoint someone to act on your behalf. This is also done at a time when you are most vulnerable.

In general, yes. You can appoint more than one person if you wish. You can appoint each person to make decisions about separate matters (“severally”) or about all matters for which they will need to agree (“jointly”). However, in some states, you can only appoint one person to make decisions about medical treatment.

Most legal documents need to be signed and witnessed. This includes a Power of Attorney. Most states in Australia prohibit the electronic signing of a Power of Attorney. It's best to arrange for at least one authorised witness to watch you sign a Power of Attorney. Whether a witness is authorised depends on where you live. The specific signing instructions are different between each state. Our forms include simple to follow signing instructions, that are tailored to each state.

In some circumstances, you can have someone sign on your behalf, though there are special rules that apply, depending on the state where you live. The forms include this provision if needed. However, the witness must be satisfied that the person making the Power of Attorney understands the effect of the document they are signing. A Power of Attorney is a powerful document. You are giving someone the power to deal with important matters on your behalf, such as transferring property or making life-changing decisions about your medical treatment. You should understand the powerful nature of this document and the effect that it has.