Factsheet: Power General - moneymanager.com.au

The general power of attorney

What is it?

A general power of attorney is a legal document. By signing it, you authorise a person to make financial and legal decisions for you.

Most people use this type of power of attorney for short-term needs. For example:

you need a legal document signed while you are on holidays; or
you want someone to buy property on your behalf.

If you just need money withdrawn from your bank account to pay bills, you may not need a power of attorney. Most banks can arrange this through an authorisation.

What can my attorney do?

This depends on you. You can limit the decisions that the attorney can make simply by writing this on the document in accordance with each State/Territory rules. For example:

you might want the attorney to only do certain things, or you might want to give them broad powers; or
you might want the power of attorney to last for two weeks or two years.

Multiple attorneys

Where State/Territory laws permit this, you may be able to decide whether you want your attorneys to make decisions "jointly" or "jointly and severally". "Jointly" means that both attorneys have to agree with the decision they make. "Jointly and severally" means that either attorney can make a decision by themselves.

There are no set rules about what you choose, it depends on your circumstances. For example:

appointing attorneys to make decisions jointly and severally could be useful if one of your attorneys travels a lot; or
if you want two people to make decisions for you and you don't fully trust the judgement of one of them, then you can appoint them to make decisions jointly.

Does it last forever?

No! This type of power of attorney will last until:

you cancel it;
you die;
you cannot make your own decisions, i.e. you become mentally incompetent;
you become bankrupt; or
the expiry date that you write on the document has passed.

How do I cancel it?

You can cancel a power of attorney at any time. Check whether there are formal requirements in your State/Territory, particularly if there are registration requirements. And don't forget to tell your banks or other agencies that have dealt with the attorney.

Read this: This fact sheet is intended to be general information about the law in Australia. It is not a substitute for legal or other professional advice. LAwscape Communications Pty Ltd, Fairfax Interactive Pty Ltd or MoneyManager does not accept responsibility for loss to any person, who either acts or does not act because of this fact sheet.

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