Enduring Powers of Guardianship
What happens to you if you are mentally incapacitated and you cannot make decisions about your personal, social or medical needs?
If you cannot make decisions about your personal, social or medical needs, your spouse or family member may not be accepted as being a person who can make these decisions on your behalf. Sometimes informal arrangements are accepted and enable a family member to make theses decisions on behalf of an incapacitated loved one, but frequently, medical practitioners and aged care staff are less inclined to act on the informal instruction of a family member. Formal authority is often required to enable decisions to be made on behalf of an incapacitated person. This is best done by having an Enduring Power of Guardianship.
Unless you have an Enduring Power of Guardianship in place, then you put your family at risk of having to seek formal Orders from the Guardianship Board regarding your ongoing care in the event that you are mentally incapacitated.
Your Enduring Power of Guardianship can appoint one or more people who you know and trust to act jointly or separately in your interests if you have lost your mental facilities. If you wish, you may also include specific directions to provide guidance to your guardian if called upon to make decisions on your behalf.
Enduring Powers of Guardianship enable you to empower your guardian with greater authority than a medical attorney. Medical Powers of Attorney are restricted to medical matters.
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