Enduring Power of Attorney Lawyers North Shore
A Guide to Enduring Power of Attorney North Shore in New Zealand
Understanding an Enduring Power of Attorney
An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is a legal document which enables you to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf. The EPA will come into force under certain circumstances spelled out in the document such as mental incapacity, or extreme medical conditions. You need to know that this is a person that you can trust to make decisions on your behalf. This trusted person is known as your ‘attorney,’ and their authority continues (or endures) even if you lose mental capacity in the future, until your death, at which becomes the EPA becomes null and void. Given the potential enormous impacts of any decision, it is important that you work with one of the Enduring Power of Attorney lawyers North Shore has available.
Types of Enduring Power of Attorney
- Personal Care and Welfare EPA: If your health deteriorates significantly and you are not able to make important decisions, this allows your attorney to make decisions about your personal care and welfare. For example, you may be in a coma after an accident, or you are seriously ill. In these cases, your attorney can make decisions that affect your medical treatment, day-to-day issues about your wellbeing, and even where you live. This type of EPA can also into effect if you become mentally incapable of making these decisions yourself, such as dementia.
- Property EPA: In this case your attorney has authority to make decisions about your financial affairs and property. This is not just for big financial decisions, but even simple ones like an electricity supply. If you have to move out of your home, the terminate the electricity account without an EPA will require agreement from a court. This not only takes time but is also very expensive.
Clearly, both of these EPA can save masses of time and huge expense so seeing one of the Enduring Power of Attorney lawyers North Shore has, makes a lot of sense.
Why is an Enduring Power of Attorney Important?
It is common for people lose the ability to make decisions for themselves. With the increase in cases of dementia, the number is rising rapidly. With an EPA in place if you cannot make important decisions because of illness, accident, or age-related decline, someone you trust can act in your best interests. If there is no EPA, then your family members will have to go through a lengthy and expensive process in the Family Court to get one of them appointed as your welfare guardian or property manager. This can lead to friction in the family if one or more members does not agree with that person being appointed. If you take the initiative, while you are capable, then that removes any bias and room for disagreement.
Establishing an Enduring Power of Attorney
There are four requirements for you to establish an EPA.
- You must be mentally capable at the time you set up an EPA.
- The document must be signed in front of a lawyer, registered legal executive, or an authorised representative who will explain your rights and the implications.
- You can appoint more than one attorney for your property EPA, and you can specify how they must work together.
- You can also set specific instructions or limits on what your attorney can do.
Key Considerations
- When you choose an attorney, you need to be mindful that this needs to be a person that you can trust to act with your best interests in mind, so choose your attorney carefully.
- If your circumstances or relationships change, review and update your EPA.
- Tell your family and close friends that you have an EPA, where the documents are held, and who is the attorney.
Summary
In summary, an Enduring Power of Attorney is an essential part of future planning. It can save you, and your family, a lot of time and unnecessary expense. It also gives you peace of mind knowing that your personal and financial affairs will be looked after in accordance with your wishes.
You can set limits on the amount of leeway that the attorney has so that you add in some protection in that regard.
To ensure that your wishes are met, you need a legally binding EPA, and a trustworthy person to carry them out. For either or both, hiring one of the Enduring Power of Attorney lawyers North Shore has in law firms is a wise decision. McVeagh Fleming has lawyers who can help. Contact them to find out more. mcveaghfleming.co.nz