One of the great mysteries in life is why bad things happen to good people. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that everyone does in fact get sick or injured at some stage in their lives, the question is simply how sick or injured does that one person get?
It is not farfetched to consider that you may experience a significant illness or injury in the future that will be fatal or impact your ability to make decisions about financial and personal matters. It is therefore important to ensure that you, your family members and your friends have adequate protection to minimise the consequences of those events.
An Enduring Power of Attorney is one such method of protection, as it is a legal document that allows a person over the age of 18 (the ‘principal’) to give another person or persons (the ‘attorney’) the authority to make legally binding decisions on behalf of the principal in the event the principal is unable to make decisions for themselves.
If a principal decides to create an Enduring Power of Attorney, the principal may wish to give the attorney the ability to make decisions about personal/health matters such as where to live or what health treatment to undergo, as well as financial matters such as accessing money to pay bills. This is important as it allows the attorney to look after the interests of the principal during times of vulnerability.
In circumstances where someone does not have an Enduring Power of Attorney and is unable to make decisions for themselves due to a loss of capacity, this creates a situation where family and/or friends cannot make legal decisions on behalf of that person without first being appointed as a guardian and/or financial administrator by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The difficulty with this however is that it can be stressful, timely and expensive; all of which can be avoided by simple planning.
Take for instance the following example:
Billy did not have an Enduring Power of Attorney. Upon making an enquiry with the bank, Sarah discovers that she will not be able to sell the house without Billy’s signature. As Billy did not have an Enduring Power of Attorney, Sarah will not be able to sell the house unless she is first appointed as a financial administrator by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
If there is one thing to learn from this scenario it is this; bad things do happen to good people, but only you can ensure that good things continue to happen to good people.
