Mosman Lawyers Richard Harvey & Associates offers one of the most effective ways to arrange your will, powers of attorney and guardianship in the Sydney, Mosman and Northern Beaches areas. We can assist with:
- Drafting & updating Trusts, Wills, Powers of Attorney & Guardianship and Advance Health Care Directives.
- Applying for Probate or Letters of Administration (in the event there is no valid will or no living executor).
- Assistance with claims against estates.
- Supreme Court Family Provision claims or defending Family Provision claims .
- Secure storage and tracking of your Wills, Power of Attorney and Enduring Guardianship.
Wills and Estate Planning
A will is a legal document which sets out who will receive your property when you die. Powers of attorney and guardianship determine who can make important financial and medical decisions while you are alive. Together these and creation of trusts are known as “estate planning”. We always recommend keeping your will up to date as it makes distributing your estate far easier for your beneficiaries in what is already a difficult time. Keeping your will and powers of attorney and guardianship up to date includes considering whether you need to make changes where a person referred to in the documents has died, married, gone bankrupt, is in a bad relationship, lost mental capacity or where new potential beneficiaries have been born.
Enduring Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is a legal document whereby one person grants one or more other persons the authority to make legal and financial decisions on their behalf. For example, a Power of Attorney can be used to have another take care of your affairs while you are travelling or in times of extended illness.
An Enduring Power of Attorney takes this a step further, whereby the attorney, who is the person nominated to manage your affairs may continue to manage your affairs once you are found to have diminished mental capacity due to injury or illness. This arrangement can remain in place as long as the donor is still alive.
Powers of Attorney can be prepared in two ways – to come into effect immediately and to continue once the donor suffers a loss of capacity, or to come into effect at a future time of your choosing (such as the onset of physical or mental incapacity).
In order to sign a Power of Attorney, the donor must be fully capable of understanding the nature and effect of the document they are signing. It is therefore important in situations where an Attorney is to be appointed that it is done in a timely manner and should not to be lightly entered into.
Enduring Guardianship
Appointing an enduring guardian differs from appointing an enduring attorney. An enduring power of attorney deals with a person’s financial affairs whereas an enduring guardianship deals with personal decisions, such as a person’s living arrangements, the types of personal services they receive and consenting to proper medical and dental treatment.
Arrange a consultation with an experienced solicitor today.
