Enduring Powers of Attorney

Why have an EPA?

An Enduring Power of Attorney (known as an ‘EPA’) in Western Australia is an important and powerful part of your estate planning.

It allows you to appoint a trusted person to act for you in relation to banking, financial and property decisions.

You can decide whether your trusted person can act for you:

• now (i.e. while you have capacity to make decisions for yourself, acting on your instructions); or

• only if you lose capacity in the future (and in that case, acting in your best interests).

Think of it like having your own personal lifeguard that you have chosen, who is there for you if you need them (except it’s your financial life in their hands, not actual life).

If you do not have a valid EPA and decisions need to be made on your behalf, your family may have to make an application to the State Administrative Tribunal (‘SAT’) for an Administration order, under section 40 of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA).

This can be a stressful and time consuming process which may have been avoided by the preparation of a valid EPA.

Whether or not administration orders from SAT are necessary or not will depend on how the protected person’s assets are structured, whether real estate is involved and other factors.