It is important to note the difference between a power of attorney and an enduring guardian document is that one deals with financial matters (such as banking and selling real estate and shares for example ) whereas the other deals with non-financial matters (such as medical and lifestyle decision making).
We highly recommend that if you intend to make a power of attorney you should also consider an enduring guardianship appointment, particularly if you are elderly. Good lawyers can prepare these documents.
We recommend that you consult a lawyer to discuss your affairs and arrange to put this in place before it becomes too late.
It is very common for our law firm to receive telephone calls from children of parents who have lost mental capacity. We have a number of people who contact our office requesting our services to arrange a power of attorney or enduring guardian when it is too late. We are often asked to draft documents in circumstances where proposed appointor has already lost mental capacity. Once this has occurred a lawyer cannot prepare any legal documents for such person as they no longer have the requisite mental capacity to understand the nature and effect of a legal document. The only way to obtain the appointment as a guardian is through the NSW Guardianship Tribunal.
We recommend that you consult a lawyer to discuss your affairs and arrange to put this in place.
It is often difficult for a lawyer to act in a matter where the documents are to be prepared for an elderly person for example over 85 years of age. In these circumstances, the solicitor may request a letter from the client’s general practitioner to state that the client has the requisite capacity to understand the nature and effect of a legal document. Once this letter has been obtained and produced the lawyer can prepared the necessary documentation.
It is very important to act before it is too late. Not only is it difficult to accept that a parent or loved one has lost mental capacity but having to go through the process and scrutiny of a tribunal to prove that you are the best person to be appointed for the role as a guardian and a financial manager is very disheartening and disconcerting. We recommend that you act before it is too late.
The process involved in order to obtain appointment as a Guardian and / or financial Manager involves providing a bundle of material and medical reports from a general practitioners and written applications to support the application to the Guardianship Tribunal. It also involves a lengthy interview by telephone and an attendance at the tribunal and being questioned about the application.
Feel free to contact our lawyers to discuss your circumstances.
We recommend that you speak with a probate lawyer who can handle the whole process and provide you with proper legal advice from a qualified probate lawyer.