What happens if I lose the ability to make decisions for myself?
Life can be uncertain, and there may come a time through illness or injury that you’re unable to make decisions yourself. Therefore, it’s important to plan ahead.
An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) enables you to appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf regarding your care, welfare, and financial matters if you can’t do this yourself. These legal documents can protect your best interests and ensure you and your loved ones are being looked after.
There are two types of EPAs:
- Enduring Power of Attorney for Personal Care and Welfare. This EPA only comes into effect if you become ‘mentally incapable’ and enables your attorney to make medical or other related decisions about your care and welfare.
- Enduring Power of Attorney for Property. This can come into effect before you become ‘mentally incapable’ or only when you’re not able to make decisions about your financial affairs.
Should you become mentally incapable before having an EPA in place, your loved ones may need to apply for a Family Court order. This can be a time-consuming and costly process. Worse yet, the judge is reliant on the information provided to them and will not necessarily know who you trust or rely on to appoint as a decision maker.
The team at Dawsons Lawyers can help arrange your EPAs and give you peace of mind over decisions made about your financial matters and personal care and welfare. Contact us today to make an appointment to see one of our lawyers at either our Kohimarama or East Tamaki office. We also offer an easy online solution through our website for creating your EPAs in your own time with the support of our team.
Claire Endean – Director/Lawyer
dawsonslawyers.co.nz | 09 272 0002
