Powers of attorney and guardianship

Powers of attorney and guardianship are legal documents that allow you to choose who will make decisions about things like your finances or medical treatment, if you are not able to make these decisions yourself.

If you don’t have a power of attorney or guardianship:

it could lead to conflict over who should take charge of the decision-making process if you are unable to do this yourself
the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal may be asked to appoint an administrator or guardian to help you.

At some time in our lives we may be faced with changes – such as an accident or illness – that might take away our capacity to make our own decisions about things like:

where we live
how we spend our money
how our health care and medical treatment is managed.

Powers of attorney and guardianship are legal documents that allow decisions to be made that take into account your wishes, if you do not have the capacity to make those decisions for yourself in the future.

Types of powers

You can make:

a general power of attorney by appointing someone to make financial or legal decisions for you, usually for a specific period of time, such as when you are away on holidays
an enduring power of attorney (financial) by appointing someone to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf, such as signing a legal document, selling property or doing your banking, if you are unable to make these decisions some time in the future
an enduring power of attorney (medical treatment) by appointing someone to make medical decisions on your behalf, such as agreeing to or refusing surgery, if you are unable to make these decisions some time in the future
an enduring power of guardianship by appointing someone to make day-to-day lifestyle decisions on your behalf, such as where you live and health care issues, if you are unable to make these decisions some time in the future.

These are made by filling in the relevant form. The form does not have to be completed by a lawyer but you may want to get legal advice if your affairs are complex.