Many of my clients or their parents have reached a stage where they are over 65 or even elderly and it is definitely in their interests to get their affairs in order by ensuring they have put in place the following documents:
- A Will;
- An Enduring Power of Attorney; and
- An Appointment of Enduring Guardian.
A Will is a legal document that sets out how a person wishes their
property (estate) to be distributed after their death. The Will must
appoint an executor to administer the estate and specify which
people will receive shares of the estate, normally a spouse or children
or even a charity. Without a Will, the the State laws of intestacy
will determine who receives the estate which may not accord with the
deceased’s intentions;
An Enduring Power of Attorney is another legal document by which a
person appoints an attorney to make legal and financial decisions on
that person’s behalf and it continues to operate even if the person who
made the appointment loses mental capacity. Without it, there would be
no-one to manage the person’s affairs if they lose mental capacity
unless an application is made to a court or tribunal to make an
appointment; and
An Appointment of Enduring Guardian is a legal document by which a
person appoints an enduring guardian to make lifestyle and health
decisions on behalf of that person (such as where that person will live
or what medical treatment they will receive) but only when that
person has a loss of mental capacity to make their own
decisions. In other words, the Appointment may never come into
operation.
Naturally, legal advice should be sought before creating any or all of the above documents but failure to consider them at all may lead to unintended and unfortunate consequences for not only older members of the community but their families as well.
February 2026