INCAPACITY PLANNING

You may wish to consider who will manage your affairs if you lose your mental capacity to function.  This step is often overlooked in planning, but it is very important to protect yourself and your family.  If no planning is done, a Court application will usually be necessary in the event of your incapacity, which involves unnecessary delays and legal costs.

The following documents are most commonly prepared by us:

Enduring Powers of Attorney

An Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document that appoints a person to manage and make decisions about your financial or legal affairs. Generally, this document is used to plan for the possibility that you lose the capacity to manage these matters yourself, but it can also be effective while you are capable for convenience purposes. If you become incapable, the person named as attorney can pay your bills, do your banking, sign legal documents, file your tax returns, sell your property, and undertake other financial and legal matters. An attorney cannot make decisions about your health care or personal care.

Representation Agreements 

A Representation Agreement is a legal document that appoints a person to manage and make decisions about your health care and personal care.  If you become incapable, the person named as representative can make decisions for you regarding your living arrangements, with whom you will have contact, your activities, medical treatments or surgeries, medications, and your end-of-life care. In making these decisions, the representative must consider the wishes, values and beliefs that you expressed while you were still capable, whether expressed in writing (such as a Letter of Wishes) or by other means.

End of Life Wishes 

A Letter of Wishes regarding your health care or personal care at the end of your life is sometimes referred to as a “Living Will”. It is not a legally binding document. Rather, it is an expression of your wishes, values, and beliefs regarding your end-of-life care. The Letter describes health care treatments that you do not want to receive if you are terminally ill or in an unresponsive state with no prospect of recovery. It will guide your representative when they must make these end-of-life care decisions for you.