Appointing Aged Care Representation: Getting the Choice of Representation Right
Enduring Power of Attorney; Enduring Guardianship or Executor of Estate- What’s the difference?
Aged Care Representation: If you’re anything like me: the words: Enduring Power of Attorney; Enduring Guardianship or Executor of Estate cause a glazed expression to take over your face… Not having a legal background, I find the words confronting and feel nervous to be able to distinguish (or explain) the terms.
That’s why I collaborated with Autonomy First Lawyers‘ Principal Michael Perkins, to share his wisdom and knowledge regarding Representation, in the boardroom at Prestige Inhome Care‘s Neutral Bay office.
Making decisions for ourselves is one of the rights we have as adults.
It is useful to make some decisions in advance to make sure we have help when we need it most.
Michael empowered us with some hard facts, and some challenging stories – all culminating in the very strong message: there are some important things to know before appointing someone to be your representative.
Even though we all want to believe we will be able to make the important decisions we deserve to make as adults, exactly when we need to, sometimes our ability to make decisions can be taken away from us
Examples: If we have an accident, a stroke, a heart-attack or any other life-threatening event.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of Dementia are also other examples of times when we may lose our cognitive ability to make an informed decision.
It is important – and quite normal- for Australian adults to plan ahead and make decisions in advance regarding who can help them in the future.
Things to consider include:
- Where will I live?
- How will I pay my bills?
- What medical treatment or assistance might I need? – and who gets to decide when to intervene or not.
- How will I manage my money?
- How do I make promises and commitments, for example, to agree to support services or accommodation services being provided to me?
Australian law allows us to choose one or more people to help us make decisions; and to make decisions for us, when required.
In New South Wales the law allows us to choose who will help us during our life and who will be responsible for managing our property when we die.
These Representative Roles are called:
Guardian (health, medical, wellness, care, and lifestyle decisions)
Attorney / Enduring Power of Attorney* (legal, business, and financial decisions) *normally made so the person you appoint can still operate as your attorney even if you lose the ability to direct your affairs.
Executor (the person who manages your property after you die, pays your debts and hands over the remaining property to who you choose).
Following the theme of another of my blog posts: Don’t be shocked to see how they’ve aged; Start a conversation about representation for your loved ones, early.
Bring the topic up in general conversation; initiate a conversation about what they’d like to do to protect their assets; Maybe they already have a plan in place.
Reassure them that their personal wishes will have the best chances of being followed, if they appoint the right Representation. Encourage them to discuss it with their Lawyer – or start researching some steps.
Below are 2 informative reference PDF documents you can download from Autonomy First Lawyers’ Resources to further assist you:
What You Have To Know To Appoint Representatives and Empowering Vulnerable Decision Makers Guide Sheet
If all else fails, you can also simply write down their wishes, date and sign it, and note whether anyone else was in the room for the duration of the conversation. Show them the document, and it might get the ball rolling to do it properly.
Allow Susan.Care to assist you with all matters of Ageing
Contact Susan
