Making an EPA
And enduring power of attorney is just one of the tools
available to you to implement your PLAN regarding your present
situation as well as into the future.
The ability to make an enduring power of attorney relies upon
legislation enacted by each State. The statutory provisions
are different between the jurisdictions and care needs to be
exercised when cross jurisdictional issues might arise.
As with other planning issues, some people fall into the trap of
not addressing the PLAN early enough. The fact is that the
planning is a NOW task. The tools that you may need from time
to time to implement those plans may be done now or may be done or
changed at different times in the future depending upon the
PLAN!. Most importantly you need a PLAN of what to do and
when to do it.
An enduring Power of attorney needs to be in place well before
it is needed. In practice, many cases seem to arise of people
thinking about such matters only by the time it is too late.
It is not necessarily true that only older people need enduring
powers of attorney. In some circumstances, it may be wise for
younger people to have an enduring Power of attorney to deal with
consequences of accidents or illness.
What is
it?
What information is required
to complete the EPA form?
It is usually appropriate to consider the situation
regarding an enduring power of attorney in conjunction with a Will
and Estate Plan. This is so even though they deal with
different situations.
The Office of the Public Advocate in WA has an enduring
power of attorney information kit (including the form) available
for download on its web site -read the EPA information kit.
The Australain Government website provides links to the
equivalent agency in the various states and territories for powers
of attorney.