FAQs

You may revoke your EPOG at any time when you have legal capacity. To revoke your EPOG you should:

• destroy the original and any copies;
• sign a Deed of Revocation of EPOG and send a copy to your guardian and anyone else who may have a copy of the EPOG (such as medical institutions).

An EPOG can be made by anyone over the age of 18 who has legal capacity. Legal capacity means that the person must be able to understand the nature and effect of the document they are completing.

By making an EPOG you can authorise a person who you trust to make decisions for you if you lose capacity to make them for yourself. You should make an EPOG if:

• you have strong views about how you wish to be cared for; or
• you wish to nominate a specific person to make those decisions on your behalf.

If you don’t have an EPOG and you lose capacity your family members may need to apply to the State Administrative Tribunal for authority to manage your affairs. You may only think of making your EPOG as you get older, but don’t leave it too late. You must be of sound mind to make a valid EPOG.

Please bring the documents and information listed on the Enduring power of guardianship checklist.

Your EPOG will only come into effect if you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself. Your EPOG will not operate while you are still able to make reasonable judgments about your personal, lifestyle or treatment matters.

An enduring power of guardianship (EPOG) enables an adult with full legal capacity to appoint another person to make decisions on their behalf about personal, lifestyle and treatment matters. An EPOG does not authorise another person to manage your financial and property matters.

You may revoke your EPOA at any time when you have legal capacity. To revoke your EPOA you should:

• destroy the original and any copies;
• sign a Deed of Revocation of EPOA and send a copy to your attorney and anyone else who may have a copy of the EPOA (such as financial or medical institutions); and
• if your EPOA was lodged at Landgate, lodge your Deed of Revocation of EPOA at Landgate.

An EPOA can be made by anyone over the age of 18 who has legal capacity. Legal capacity means that the person must be able to understand the nature and effect of the document they are completing and the nature and extent of their estate.

There is no formal registry of EPOAs in Western Australia, however if it is likely that your attorney will need to sell or deal with your land then your EPOA must be registered at Landgate.

By completing an EPOA you can authorise a person who you trust to manage your property and finances on your behalf. If you don’t have an EPOA and you lose capacity your family members may need to apply to the State Administrative Tribunal for authority to manage your affairs. You may only think of making your EPOA as you get older, but don’t leave it too late. You must be of sound mind to make a valid EPOA.

Please bring the documents and information listed on the Enduring power of attorney checklist.

When you create your EPOA you must choose whether the power is effective:

• as soon as the EPOA is signed; or
• only after your attorney has applied to the State Administrative Tribunal for declaration that you have lost capacity.

Any adult you trust can be your attorney. Your attorney can act alone, jointly with another person (ie always together) or jointly and severally with that other person (ie together or separately). Your attorney must accept the responsibility of acting as your attorney by signing the acceptance section of your EPOA.

An enduring power of attorney (EPOA) enables an adult with full legal capacity to appoint another person to make decisions on their behalf about property and financial matters, for example selling real estate or managing bank accounts. It does not permit an attorney to make personal and lifestyle decisions, including decisions about medical treatment.

Our Wills on the spot appointments are held at our Perth offices. We will prepare your Will and witness you sign it during the meeting. If you’re unable to attend our office we can take your instructions via a Zoom consultation and post your Will to you with instructions for signing it.

Our Wills on the spot service is for the preparation of your simple Will. Under a simple Will you would typically leave the whole of your estate to your spouse or partner if he or she survives you. If your spouse does not survive you, you would generally provide that your estate is divided equally among your children. You may make provision that if any of your children die before you, the share they would otherwise have taken would be divided equally between their children (i.e. your grandchildren). If you don’t have any children you may provide that your estate be divided in certain proportions among other friends or family members. A simple Will does not include provision for complex substitution clauses, long lists of gifts or establishing testamentary trusts. Unsure which service is for you? Read this information sheet for more information. We cannot prepare an on-the-spot Will if any of the following apply:

• you have an interest in a family company, family trust, business, partnership or a self-managed superannuation fund
• you or your partner have children from other relationships (a blended family)
• you want your Will to include a long list of gifts or gifts to charity
• you have a large assets pool or complex family affairs
• you wish to give your property away with conditions attached – for example rights to purchase or life estate interest
• you wish to create testamentary trusts or protective trusts
• you own real estate overseas
• you wish to make mutual wills – a binding promise not to change your will
• you have identified the possibility of your Will being challenged
• you do not understand the English language or are unable to sign your name.

In those circumstances, your consultation will be an Estate Planning Consultation and we will give you a quote for preparing your Will after your consultation.

The Department of Social Services publishes useful information about Special Disability Trusts. You can find that information here. For specific advice about your circumstances, please contact us to book an estate planning conference.

There are two concessions.

1. For the principal beneficiary, all assessable trust assets up to the concessional asset value limit are exempt from the social security assets test. Where the assets of the trust exceed the limit, the amount in excess of the limit will be counted as assessable assets for the person and will be assessed against the relevant assets test thresholds.
2. Where immediate family members contributing to the trust are in receipt of a social security or veterans’ entitlement payment and are within five years of Age Pension age or older, they may be eligible to receive a concession from the usual social security or veterans’ entitlement rules relating to making gifts (disposal of assets).

The fund must be used for the care and accommodation needs of a family member with severe disability. The trust can only have one beneficiary. There are strict limits on the amount that can be spent in a financial year on discretionary items not related to the care and accommodation needs of the beneficiary of the trust.

Before a Special Disability Trust is established, the prospective beneficiary must be assessed as severely disabled under the legislation for this type of trust. More information on the assessment process is available here.

Please bring the documents and information listed on the relevant checklist.

• Simple Wills
• Complex Wills and Estate Planning
• Enduring power of attorney