Powers Of Attorney – Not Just For The Elderly

by Caldwell Martin Cox | 19 12, 2022 | Latest News

Many people think that Powers of Attorney are only for our elderly citizens. That is not the case at all. A Power of Attorney can be a very useful document for any adult to have, particularly if you have young children.

A Power of Attorney is a document where you give a person or persons the power to make legal and financial decisions for you in your lifetime. The power granted in the document ceases when you die.

It is an extremely powerful document as the person or persons you appoint can deal with your assets such as real estate, shares, bank accounts and superannuation. They can access your funds, pay bills on your behalf and make decisions about buying or selling assets.

You can allow your attorney to meet the reasonable living and medical expenses of others from your funds. This power can be particularly useful if you have children as it will allow your attorney to access your funds to meet your children’s reasonable living and medical expenses such as housing, food, transportation, education and medication for your children if you are no longer able to do so yourself or in other circumstances you authorise.

Given the power of the document and the potential financial consequences for you if it is misused, it is really important that you pick the right person or persons to be your attorney. Someone who has trouble managing their own financial affairs would not be a good person to manage yours. You should pick someone who you trust would make good decisions for you and for anyone else whose expenses you would like your attorney to pay from your funds.

You can appoint more than one attorney and you can authorise them to act independently of each other or you can stipulate they need to make all decisions together. If you wish for your attorneys to act jointly, you should consider whether the people you select would work well together.

You can tailor your Power of Attorney to meet your needs and circumstances. For example, you can make a Power of Attorney that commences as soon as your attorney accepts their appointment and so there is no requirement that you need to be assessed as having lost your mental capacity before your attorney can act. Otherwise, you may not wish for your appointed attorney to act now but rather be able to act in the future, for example, if a medical practitioner considers you are unable to manage your affairs and signs a document to that effect.

Making a Power of Attorney, at any age once an adult, means you have control over who you wish to make legal and financial decisions for you in your lifetime and when and under what conditions you wish for your attorney to act.

Call Caldwell Martin Cox today to make an appointment to discuss Powers of Attorney and how to best make a Power of Attorney that is right for you and your circumstances.