Enduring Power of Attorney – free legal advice & updates for the rest of your life

Enduring Power of Attorney Book Cover

  • Enduring Power of Attorney

  • $128 includes GST

  • For every state • NSW • VIC • QLD • WA • SA • TAS • NT • ACT

ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA

What is an Australian Enduring Power of Attorney?

An Enduring Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document. It allows you to appoint a person to make decisions about your assets. The POA deals with your assets such as real estate and bank accounts.

Limits on an Australian POA

Australian POAs have limits. 

The POA is an “economic” document.  (Your POA does not deal with your health, medical treatment, or lifestyle. For medical and lifestyle protection build a Medical Guardianship or a Victorian Medical Treatment Decision Maker on our website.)

The person receiving your EPA cannot:

The person receiving your Enduring Power of Attorney can open and close bank accounts, pay debts and buy and sell land. This is provided it is in your ‘best interests‘ to do so.

We protect your POA for the rest of your life

The cost of your POA includes:

  • Lifelong Advice: Guidance for you and your attorneys on using the POA, whenever you need it.
  • Free Updates: Update your POA as often as you wish – for free.
  • Advice: A letter explaining how to sign and use the POA.
  • Monitoring Service: Your POA is monitored for changes. If the law changes, we let you know.

Free and ongoing advice for your attorneys on using an Enduring Power of Attorney

Your attorneys receive free, ongoing support on how to use your Enduring Power of Attorney. They are never alone.

  • Guidance Included: Our cover letter, provided with your POA, explains how to use the POA.
  • Direct Assistance: Our law firm is available to help your attorneys understand and how to use the POA.

Sadly, about 32% of POAs built on government websites fail. You only discover the flaws when it is too late to fix them.

Ongoing help on using your POA for the rest of your life

Legal Consolidated POAs benefit from ongoing support. Often, when a parent loses mental capacity, their children call us for guidance and reassurance. For free, we explain how to use the POA and outline the necessary steps.

An example of helping an attorney:

One of our clients, who had dementia, had appointed their son as their attorney under an Enduring Power of Attorney (POA). The son needed to act on his parent’s behalf but encountered an unexpected roadblock at a Sydney bank. The bank manager kept the original POA and refused to return it, despite the son presenting our law firm’s cover letter. The letter clearly states that the original POA must always be returned to the attorney.

Frustrated and unable to use the POA for other banks, the son contacted our law firm for assistance. Our direct discussions with the bank manager where in vain. A Legal Consolidated lawyer contacted one of the bank’s legal team who she knew in Melbourne. Our lawyer explained the legal requirements in clear terms. The bank’s legal team directed the bank manager to return the original POA to the son.

This service was provided at no charge. This is because the POA had been prepared by Legal Consolidated.

How does the person receiving my POA use the Power of Attorney?Power of Attorney

Here are some examples:

Example 1 – POA and your bank account

The persons you appoint walk into the bank. They present to the bank clerk your:

  • Savings Account book, and
  • The original Legal Consolidated Enduring POA.

Your bank clerk stares blankly at the documents. He sees his bank manager. The bank manager explains to the clerk that the attorney “now stand in your shoes”. They can do whatever you could do with the bank account. The bank manager wants the original POA for future reference. The bank manager tries to keep the original POA. The attorney presents the law firm’s letter which states that the bank manager takes a copy of the POA and certifies it as true and original. Your attorney gets back the original POA. The transaction takes place on the bank account.

If the bank manager does not know what to do, your children or attorneys call Legal Consolidated. And, at no charge, we talk with the bank manager. This is part of the service you paid for when building your POA on our law firm’s website.

This free service is only for Legal Consolidated POAs. If you do not have a Legal Consolidated POA, then good luck. About 32% of POAs prepared on state government websites do not work.

Example 2 – Signing a document on your behalf using a POA

You tell the persons that you nominated to sign a lease agreement. You are on holiday overseas, and email is unavailable. Your attorney contacts the landlord. For Legal Consolidated POAs:

  1. tell the landlord that you hold an Enduring POA for that state of Australia (POAs only work in their home state)
  2. tell the landlord that you, the attorney, is signing the lease on the POA maker’s behalf
  3. the attorney signs in their usual signature area and write under the signatures:

“signed as the attorney for *your name* under a POA dated ## Month, the year”.

The attorney has bound you to the lease. This is thanks to the actions of your attorneys. The landlord may photocopy the POA to attach to the lease. If unsure, your attorneys get free advice on the Legal Consolidated POAs.

(Legal Consolidated does not advise on non-Legal Consolidated POAs.)

Free updates of your Enduring POA

You can update your POA for free. If you ever want to update your POA, just email us, and we send you a voucher. With the voucher, you can change the POA as you wish. You can update your POA for free as often as you wish.

You can also update your Lifestyle/Medical POA and 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Wills for free as often as you wish. For free.

How does my Australian Enduring POA help me if I am stranded overseas?

Q: I want my POA to operate only ‘when I am of unsound mind’. (I do not want to choose ‘immediately’.) But what if I am later stranded overseas? Can my wife use the Enduring POA to sign bank documents on my behalf? 

A: This is a common question:

  • If you built the POA to only come into effect when you are of unsound mind, then, it cannot be used. It is dormant until you become of unsound mind. So your wife cannot use it.
  • There are eight different types of POAs in Australia. But if you can, you usually appoint your wife for the POA to come into effect immediately. Only after your wife cannot do the job do you let one or two of your children carry out the job of being an attorney. As you build the POA, the logic flow will let you know if your State or Territory allows that.
  • You can update your Legal Consolideted POA for free and make it come into effect immediately. You can then tear up this second POA when you return to Australia.

When do the Attorneys need to sign to accept the appointment?

For Legal Consolidated POAs there is no legal requirement for an attorney to accept your POA within any time frame. An attorney can accept your POA many years later. And if you have appointed more than one attorney, they can accept many years apart from each other.

Do the Attorneys accepting the POA need to be in the same room when they sign?

Legal Consolidated POAs are drafted so that your Atorneys do not need to sign together. They do not need to accept your POA on the same day. Indeed, your attorneys may be living outside of Australia in different countries. However, your POA will not come into operation for that attorney until that attorney does sign. However, the signing can be done when the POA is needed.

Attorneys always act in my best interest

People think when you appoint someone under a POA, you give them ‘power’. It is quite the opposite. You are getting yourself a free slave. They must always act in your best interest. They cannot gain an advantage from holding your POA. That is a terrible burden on anyone. Most Dealer Groups for financial planners and Accounting Bodies for accountants prohibit these professional people being attorneys for clients. Lawyers should also not take on the burden of being an attorney.

Does an Attorney in a POA Have a Fiduciary Relationship – One of Utmost Good Faith?

Yes, your enduring attorney is in a fiduciary relationship with you.

This means your attorney must always act in your best interests. They are legally and ethically bound to put your interests above their own. Their role is one of utmost good faith, ensuring your financial affairs are managed solely for your benefit.

Importantly, your enduring attorney:

  • Must Not Profit: They cannot make a personal gain from their position.
  • Cannot Accept Benefits: They cannot benefit financially from third parties related to their role.
  • Must Avoid Conflicts of Interest: They must avoid any actions that could compromise their duty to act in your best interest.

By law, your enduring attorney must always prioritise your needs and financial wellbeing. This fiduciary duty ensures that you are protected and your affairs are handled with integrity and care.

Do I need an enduring POA in every state in which I have real estate?

Australia is a federation of States. Each state has its own Enduring POA. For example, a Victorian POA only works if the asset is the State of Victoria. The enduring power of attorney document in New South Wales and Western Australia is less than five pages. The Queensland POA is up to 20 pages.

If you live in two States, then you need to build and purchase two POAs. Build the first POA for one state. Then, build the second POA as a second document for the other state. (You can carry over the answers from the first document into the second document, to save you from having to answer the questions again.) Build a POA in each State in which you own land.

Example of a person needing a POA in two states of Australia

You live in London. (Perhaps you are an Australian or a foreigner who has never been to Australia; it makes no difference.) You own property in both Melbourne and Sydney. You need to build two separate POAs. One is built under the laws of Victoria. And a second POA for the state of New South Wales. Your attorneys can even live in other countries. That is fine. For example, your first attorney lives in South Africa and the second attorney lives in Yugoslavia.

So, in this example, a UK person is building two Australian POAs on Legal Consolidated’s website and appointing people that live in other countries. That is common and normal. Legal Consolidated POAs are drafted to allow this.

But, the Victorian POA only works in the State of Victoria. The NSW POA only works within the NSW boundary.

If you have assets in other states or other countries,, you need to build POAs for those jurisdictions. (As an Australian law firm, Legal Consolidated does not prepare or give advice on POAs for other countries.)

You need POA for each State of Australia – they do not work across state borders

Each Australian jurisdiction has its legislation governing POAs. There are eight different types of enduring (money) POAs in Australia:

  • Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas)
  • Powers of Attorney Act 1980 (NT)
  • Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld)
  • Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (ACT)
  • Powers of Attorney Act 2003 (NSW)
  • Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984 (SA)
  • Property Law Act 1969 (WA) and Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA)
  • Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic)

Each state’s POA has its peculiar wording and signing. Depending on which State POA you build on our website, you get a cover letter on how to sign. We are a national Australian law firm.

Except for WA, all jurisdictions recognise an out-of-state POA – (well, not really):

  • Victoria: validly made EPOA made in another State or Territory is recognised in Victoria. Section 138 Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic).
  • NSW: POA made in another State or Territory is recognised in NSW. Section 25 Powers of Attorney Act 2003 (NSW).
  • SA: Interstate POA is valid to the extent that the powers it gives under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the POA was made could validly have been given by a POA made under the South Australia Act.  Section 14 Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984 (SA).
  • QLD: A POA made in another jurisdiction that complies with the requirements of that other jurisdiction is recognised to the extent that the powers it gives could validly have been given by a Queensland POA. Section 34 Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld).
  • WA: Sadly, the attorney must first apply to the WA State Administrative Tribunal. This is for an order recognising the POA in WA. The Tribunal must be satisfied that the form and effect of the POA correspond sufficiently to a POA made in Western Australia. Section 104A Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA).
  • TAS: A POA ‘registered’ in another jurisdiction validly registered in Tasmania. Further, a POA made in another jurisdiction can be registered in Tasmania. But only if it complies with the laws of Tasmania or the laws of another Australian jurisdiction. Sections 42 and 43 Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (TAS). However, as a sign of how out of touch the Tasmanian government is, there is no ‘registration’ in any other jurisdiction other than Tasmania. Only Tasmania keeps a register of enduring and medical POAs.
  • NT and ACT: recognise POAs and common law POAs. In the Northern Territory and ACT, the interstate POA or common law POA is treated as though it was made under the respective NT or ACT Act.

The truth is, in practice, states do not accept an ‘out of State’ POA

Most land title offices do not acknowledge or even want to look at POAs made out of their home State. They say, “We do not have time or the resources to look at strange POAs from other States. Even if we did we would not accept an out of state POA”. So you have to take the above recognition with a pinch of salt.

Similarly, banks can barely understand a ‘local’ POA. They are unlikely to want to act on an ‘exotic’ out-of-State POA.

So, contrary to the above list, an out-of-State POA is usually not recognised.  You need an Enduring POA in every State and country where you own assets. For example, if you have assets in Double Bay in NSW and the Gold Coast in QLD, then you need two POAs. One for NSW. And another for QLD.

My attorney lives in another State. In which jurisdiction do I prepare my POA?

Q: I live in Sydney. But my Enduring and Medical Power of Attorney person I am appointing lives in Victoria. In which State do I prepare my POA?

A: Get your Enduring POA where you have your assets. If you have assets in NSW then you need an NSW POA. If you have no assets in Victoria then you do not need a Victorian POA. Where your attorney (person you appoint) lives is not relevant.

For example, your home is in Blacktown, NSW. That settles the matter. You need a NSW POA. The person you appoint can live in Melbourne or London. But that makes no difference. You need a NSW POA because you own assets in NSW.

For a ‘lifestyle/medical’ POA that is different. A lifestyle/medical POA is prepared in the State you live in. If you live in Adelaide then you prepare a South Australian Medical POA. If you live in Brisbane then you prepare a QLD medical POA. Where the person you appoint lives is not relevant.

Does my Australian POA work in London?

Of course not. A POA in one state of Australia will not even work in another state of Australia (see above). You need to instruct a UK law firm. (Email and we can recommend some UK law firms.)

I have never been to Australia. Can I still build an Australian POA?

The law firm has a client. He has never been to Australia. And he also has no reason and no interest in coming to Australia.

Our client prepared three Enduring POAs for NSW, Victoria, and QLD.

Our client appointed attorneys who have never been to Australia. And his attorneys have no interest in ever coming to Australia.

Why did our client build these three Australian POAs? The client received from his mum and dad’s mutual Wills real estate in three States of Australia. In every State he owns real estate, he needs an Enduring POA.

He has not prepared a medical/lifestyle POA. This is because he does not live in Australia.

Signing and accepting POAs out of Australia

Australian POAs prepared on Legal Consolidated’s website are designed so that neither the Donor nor the Donee needs to be in Australia. There is no requirement that either has ever set foot on Australian soil. Or will never come to Australia. That is fine.

But the signing of the POA by the Donor and the acceptance by the Donee can be harder if you are signing out of Australia. All 8 Australian POAs and all 8 Australian Medical/Lifestyle POAs have unique signing requirements. And these requirements are not lessened just because you are giving or receiving the POA outside of Australia.

The person must give the POA signs immediately. However, the persons receiving the POAs can sign at a later time. They do not have to sign with the Donor. They can accept the POA many years later in any country.

To labor the point: a person can sign, say an NSW Legal Consolidated POA in London. And 3 years later his son can accept the POA in Germany. And 2 years later his daughter can accept the POA in say, Tasmania. Of course, the POA cannot be used until the children have signed. But the children do not have to be with their Dad when he signs the POA.

Difference between an ‘enduring’ and ‘medical/lifestyle/guardianship’ power of attorney?

Each state and territory has its own:

  1. Enduring POA: deals with money and property. E.g. open and close bank accounts, sell real estate and shares.
  2. ‘Medical/Lifestyle’ Decision Maker: deals with your body and lifestyle when you lose mental capacity. E.g. where you live, retirement homes, who you associate with, doctors, and medical treatment.

Note: each state and territory calls a medical/lifestyle POA by different names:

      • Enduring Power of Guardianship: NSW, Tas and WA
      • Appointing Medical Treatment Decision Maker: Vic
      • Enduring Power of Attorney: ACT and QLD
      • Advanced Care Directive: SA
      • Advance Personal Plan: NT

The ‘Enduring/money” and the “lifestyle/medical” documents each do different things. You need both.

Get a medical certificate confirming sound mind when signing a POA

With all Legal Consolidated POAs, Medical/Lifestyle POAs 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Wills, and even non-tax effective Wills, get a doctor’s certificate. The doctor’s certificate states that you have the mental capacity to sign legal documents such as POAs and Wills.

Keep that Medical Certificate with the POA and your other estate planning documents.

The Medical Certificate helps prove you were of sound mind when you signed the Enduring Power of Attorney.

If you do not get a Medical Certificate then people argue that you did not have the mental capacity to sign the POA. They seek to have your POA rendered void

 

Protects from death duties, divorcing and bankrupt children and a 32% tax on super. Build online with free lifetime updates:

 

Couples Bundle

includes 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Wills and 4 POAs

 

Singles Bundle

includes 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will and 2 POAs

 
 
Death TaxesSpecific gifts in Australian Wills
Vulnerable children and spend-thrifts
Second Marriages & Challenging Will
 
What if I:
Assets not in your WillHow to name a pet in your Will
Power of Attorney
  1. medical poaMoney POAs: NSW, VIC,  QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT & NT
  2. Medical, Lifestyle, Guardianships, and Care Directives:
  3. Company POA when directors go missing, insane or die
After deathcremation and funeral arrangements
  •