Are you prepared?

On this weeks blog, Jeff Walker discuss the importance of Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney.

We are constantly faced with situations where people say what has actually happened after a person dies isn’t what my father/mother/partner/friend would have wanted.

To make sure this is not said about you, it is important that you have some basic documents up to date. For most people those documents are: -

·         Your Will; and

·         Enduring Powers of Attorney for both Personal Care & Welfare & Property.

Will:

A Will is a legal document which sets out what you want to happen with your property after you die. You appoint a person or persons to carry out your wishes after your death. Male persons filling this role are called Executors and female’s are called Executrices.

You need to be aware that if you marry, it is likely that a Will you have made before your marriage becomes invalid.

People also should be aware that being in a qualifying relationship with another person may give that other person rights to challenge any Will that you make. Generally for relationships to qualify they need to have lasted for 3 or more years.

As Wills are important documents, there are legal rules about their form and how they are signed and witnessed. We will be able to ensure you have a valid Will.

A good starting point is to go to our Resources tab on our website and click on the Wills section and complete the Will instruction form.

Enduring Powers of Attorney:

There are two types of Enduring Powers of Attorney, they are: -

·         Enduring Power of Attorney for Personal Care & Welfare; and

·         Enduring Power of Attorney for Property.

Enduring Powers of Attorney enable you to nominate people to make decisions for you if you lose capacity, either through illness, accident or injury. They cease to have effect when you die.

Generally, they don’t come into force until a medical practitioner has certified that you don’t have capacity. In relation to Property, it is possible to structure the Enduring Power of Attorney so that it enables your Attorney to act for you while you have capacity as well as if you lose capacity to manage your affairs.

For Property, you can have more than one Attorney, who can act jointly or severally or both jointly and severally, you can then also appoint one or more Successor Attorneys. Your Successor Attorney’s role doesn’t come into play unless your first named Attorney(s) are incapacitated or unable to act.

For Personal Care & Welfare, you can only have one Attorney, but again, you can have one or more Successor Attorney’s to cover the situation should your first choice be unable to act.

For both types of Enduring Powers of Attorney, you can add someone that you wish to be consulted with on decisions your Attorney makes, or provided with information about those decisions.

If you don’t have Enduring Powers of Attorney in place and you lose capacity, it is likely that someone close to you is faced with making an Application to the Family Court to appoint a Welfare Guardian and/or Property Manager. Such Applications can be stressful and are costly. The simple way to prevent those close to you having to make such Applications is to put in place Enduring Powers of Attorney while you have capacity.

Enduring Powers of Attorney are important documents. There are legal rules about their form and how they are signed and witnessed. We will be able to assist you to ensure you have valid Enduring Powers of Attorney.