Appointing an Enduring Guardian gives you peace of mind that if something happens which impacts on your mental or physical capacity, you have appointed the person you want and trust to handle your personal, medical and lifestyle decisions on your behalf.
What is an Enduring Guardian?
An Enduring Guardian is someone you nominate to make lifestyle, health and medical decisions on your behalf, in such case as you are unable to make such decisions yourself. It is important that you trust the person you appoint as your enduring guardian. We recommend that you inform your Enduring Guardian of your lifestyle goals and wishes prior to their appointment.
When will an Appointment of Enduring Guardian come into effect?
The appointment will only come into effect if you lose capacity to make your own decisions and will only be effective during the period of incapacity. It may be that the appointment will never need to be used, but it is beneficial to plan ahead for unforeseen circumstances. We suggest informing your enduring guardian of any lifestyle goals as well as properly documenting those wishes in the document.
It is also important to understand that if you were to marry after you appoint an enduring guardian then the appointment will be automatically revoked (unless you were to marry your enduring guardian).
What can an Enduring Guardian do?
You have the ability to dictate what your Enduring Guardian can do. Some of these duties include making decisions such as:
• Where you live;
• The health care you receive;
• The types of personal services to be provided to you at your home; and
• Any medical or dental treatments you receive.
What happens if I lose capacity before I appoint an Enduring Guardian?
The importance of appointing an Enduring Guardian is to avoid any issues if something untoward were to happen and you lost capacity without having an Enduring Guardian in place. In this situation, such an application would need to be appointed for you. This process can be stressful, time consuming and you would ultimately not be able to make the decisions about the person appointed.
What happens if my Enduring Guardian does the wrong thing?
The appointment creates a very important legal relationship between you and your enduring guardian. If your enduring guardian breaches his or her obligations, they may be liable to civil or criminal penalty.
If you have any questions relating to preparing an appointment of Enduring Guardian, contact our friendly team today by booking an appointment online or calling our office on 02 4050 0330.
