Thelma reviewed her will and prepared an Enduring Power of Attorney (“EPA”) in readiness for a long and worry-free retirement. The EPA would ensure her financial affairs would be managed by her chosen appointees in the event of her decline or losing her mental capacity.
Being in good mental health at the time, Thelma resisted having an Enduring Guardianship (“EG”) document prepared until she felt she would need one. An EG would ensure that if Thelma suffered loss of mental capacity her medical and personal care decisions would be made by Thelma’s own appointees following her specific directions.
Time passed and Thelma was referred by her doctor for assessment by an Aged Care Assessment Team that revealed Thelma was in mental decline and no longer able to sign legal documents. This created the need for a legal guardian to be appointed for Thelma, and competing applications to NCAT were made by her family to determine who would be most suitable to take control as Thelma’s legal guardian.
The dilemma caused friction in Thelma’s family that could have been avoided had Thelma decided who she wanted to appoint as her Enduring Guardian/s whilst she had capacity to decide who would care for her in the event of her loss of mental capacity.
Consideration should always be given to the essential trilogy of documents needed when approaching seniority, namely Enduring Powers of Attorney, Enduring Guardianships and updated wills.
