Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, ss 97, 99A, 99B, 107
There are some issues that an EPA must deal with – for example, an EPA for property must state whether your EPA decision-maker (attorney) can start making decisions on your behalf immediately while you’re still “mentally capable”, or whether they can do this only if and when you lose your “mental capacity”.
An EPA can also include a number of optional provisions:
Consultation – You can name people who your attorney has to consult with whenever the attorney makes decisions or particular kinds of decisions.
People who have to be kept informed – You can name people who your attorney has to keep informed about decisions they make under the EPA, if those people ask for this information. You can also specify the kinds of information you want your attorney to provide.
Who’ll assess your mental capacity – Your EPA can specify the particular type of health professional who’ll do the assessment, such as a geriatrician (a doctor who specialises in the conditions that commonly affect older people), so long as it’s an area of practice that includes assessing people’s mental capacity.
Benefits for the attorney – If you make a property EPA, you can say whether your attorney is allowed to do things that will benefit them financially or benefit some third person. With some exceptions, attorneys can’t benefit themselves or other people if the EPA doesn’t specifically allow this.
Back-up attorneys – Your EPA can specify another person (a “successor attorney”) who’ll take over as your attorney if the first attorney becomes unable to act – for example, if they die or become ill.
Wills – An EPA can specify that your property attorney can make a will for you, if the Family Court has authorised the attorney to do this.
Note: As well as making your EPA, you also might want to consider making an advance directive about future medical treatment. This is a set of instructions about the kinds of treatment you do or don’t want to receive if you lose the ability to give informed consent (for example, if you’re in a coma after a car accident). For information about advance directives (sometimes called “living wills”), see the chapter “Disability rights”, under “Health and disability services”.