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Incapacity planning

We put the authority in the hands of someone you chose, before anyone needs to use it.

You make decisions today that other people depend on. An accident, an illness or simply age can end that on any given morning, and the moment it does your family needs authority they will not have. Without the right appointments, the decisions do not pass to the person you would have picked. They pass to a tribunal, which appoints someone according to its own view, and in the meantime nobody can reach your accounts, sign for your business or speak for you to a doctor. This is the one piece of planning where being early is the whole point.

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Your choice, not a tribunal's

The authority goes to the person you picked and briefed, instead of to whoever a tribunal appoints months later.

Nothing stops on the day

Accounts, contracts and medical decisions can all be dealt with immediately, because the authority already exists.

The family is spared the argument

Who decides is settled in writing beforehand, which is a far better time to settle it than in a hospital corridor.

What is an enduring power of attorney, and what does it cover?

An enduring power of attorney appoints someone to make financial and legal decisions for you. An enduring guardianship appoints someone for personal, lifestyle and medical decisions. The word enduring is the important part: an ordinary power of attorney ends the moment you lose capacity, which is precisely when it was needed. Both are made while you still have capacity, and neither can be put in place afterwards.

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What is an enduring power of attorney?

It appoints someone to make financial and legal decisions for you, and unlike an ordinary power of attorney it survives your loss of capacity. That is the whole point of it: an ordinary power ends exactly when the protection was needed. It can be drawn broadly or limited to particular assets or transactions.

What happens if I lose capacity without one?

Nobody has automatic authority over your financial and legal affairs. A family member has to apply to the state tribunal to be appointed, which costs money and takes time. The tribunal may also appoint someone other than the person you would have chosen.

Is an enduring guardian the same thing?

No. An attorney handles money and legal matters; a guardian handles personal, lifestyle and medical decisions, such as where you live and what treatment you receive. They are separate appointments and they do not have to be the same person.

Can I change or cancel the appointment later?

Yes, at any time while you still have capacity. That is worth revisiting after a separation, a death, or any change in your relationship with the person you appointed. The document keeps working until you change it.

Have you appointed anyone?

We prepare enduring powers of attorney and enduring guardianships, and set the scope so the person you chose can act from the day it is needed.

The decisions do not stop. They just stop being yours

If you lose capacity without appointing anyone, nobody around you inherits the authority automatically. Your family has to apply to a tribunal for it, which takes time and money and can appoint someone other than the person you would have chosen. Until that comes through, your accounts, your business and your medical care are all waiting on a decision nobody is allowed to make.

We will advise on who to appoint as your attorney and as your guardian.
We will prepare your enduring power of attorney for financial and legal decisions.
We will prepare your enduring guardianship for personal and medical decisions.
We will advise on the scope of the powers and any limits worth imposing.
We will align the appointments with your will and trust arrangements.

Is this your situation?

You are the person other people rely on. The finances run through you, the business needs your signature, the household assumes you are handling it. Right now that is simply how things work. You also know that a gap here is not a hypothetical risk but a certainty deferred: one day something will happen, and if nothing is in place it becomes a crisis for the people who depend on you. You would rather choose the person yourself, tell them what you would want, and have it done quietly while there is no pressure on anyone.

What's included in your incapacity planning service

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Advice on who should hold each appointment.
Enduring power of attorney preparation and execution.
Enduring guardianship preparation and execution.
Advice on scope, timing and limitations of the powers.
Integration with your existing estate plan.

What the gap costs in the first month

When capacity goes and no appointment exists, the consequences arrive immediately. A spouse cannot operate a joint account once the bank learns the other holder has lost capacity. A co-director cannot execute on behalf of someone who can no longer execute for themselves. Medical decisions that should sit with the person closest to you get made to protocol, or referred to a public guardian.

The fix is an application to a tribunal, which costs money, takes time, and may appoint someone you would not have chosen. Families also discover at this point that they disagree with each other, and the tribunal is a poor place to find that out. By the time authority is granted, the bills are late, the business has stalled, and decisions have already been made by default.

How we set it up

We start with what would actually need deciding if you could not decide: the accounts, the business, the property, the medical questions your family would face. That tells us who should hold which role, because the right person for a share portfolio is not always the right person for a hospital conversation.

We then advise on the scope, including whether the power should start now or only on incapacity, and whether any limits or conditions are worth building in. We prepare the enduring power of attorney and the enduring guardianship, witness them correctly, and make sure they sit properly alongside your will and your trust arrangements. Once they are executed, the people you chose can act the day they need to, without an application and without a wait.

Three steps to appointments that work

From who you trust to documents that can be acted on immediately.

Map the decisions

We work out what would actually need deciding if you could not decide it, across your finances, your business and your care.

Choose and scope

We advise on who should hold which role, how broad each power should be, and whether it starts now or only on incapacity.

Execute it properly

We prepare and witness the documents and align them with your will, so they hold up when someone relies on them.

Lawyers who set this up before it is needed

What you are really protecting is not an account. It is that the decisions keep being made by someone who knows your circumstances, your family and what you would actually want, rather than by an official who has never met you.

We do this work for people whose affairs do not pause: business owners with contracts to sign, investors with facilities to service, families with a household that has to keep running. Two of our lawyers are full members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and we will tell you where a power needs to be broad, where it should be limited, and what your attorney can and cannot do once it is on foot.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Nobody able to sign for you today?

Tell us who depends on your decisions and what would need dealing with if you could not deal with it. We will tell you which appointments you need and who should hold them.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590