Fillable Printable General Power of Attorney - New South Wales, Australia
Fillable Printable General Power of Attorney - New South Wales, Australia
General Power of Attorney - New South Wales, Australia
General Power of
Attor
ney
Page
1
1403
(Please initial bottom of this page)
A
general
power of attorney
is
a
legal
document that allows you (the ’principal’)
to
nominate one or more
persons
(referred
to
as
an ‘attorney’) to act on your behalf. A
general
power of attorney
gives
the attorney the authority, if you
choose,
to
manage
your
legal
and
financial affairs,
including buying and
selling real
estate,
shares
and other
assets
for
you, operating your bank
accounts,
and
spending
money on your behalf.
The
power of attorney
ceases
if you
lose
your mental
capacity
after its
execution.
If you wish the power of attorney to
continue if you
lose
mental
capacity, use
the
Enduring
Power of Attorney
prescribed
form. An attorney under
general
power of attorney cannot
make decisions
about your
lifestyle
or health;
these decisions
can only be
made
by a
guardian
(whether an enduring
guardian
appointed by you or a
guardian
appointed by the
Civil and Administrative Tribunal
or the
Supreme
Court).
You
may set whatever
limitations or
conditions
on your attorney that you choose. An attorney must
always
act in your
best interest.
If your attorney
does
not
follow
your
directions,
or
does
not act in your
best interest,
you
should revoke
the
power of attorney. You or
someone
on your behalf
should
inform the attorney of the
revocation, preferably
in writing.
The
attorney must then
immediately cease
to act as your attorney. If
anyone else, such as
a bank,
has been advised
about
the power
of
attorney, that
person
or entity
should also
be informed of the revocation.
The
Important Information
set
out at the end of this form
includes notes
to
assist
in completing this form and more fully
explains
the role and
responsibilities
of an attorney.
1. Appointment of attorney by the Principal
I,
[insert
full
name
and address],
appoint
and
also
appoint
[insert
full
name
and
address
of
each
attorney – add more
pages
if necessary]
to be my
attor
ney/s.
General Power of
Attor
ney
Page
2
1403
(Please initial bottom of this page)
My attorneys are appointed:
a)
❏
Jointly (your attorneys
must all act together).
Tick
the
applicable
box below (one only)
i)
❏
I want the appointment to be terminated if one of the attorneys dies, resigns or otherwise vacates office.
ii)
❏
I
do not want the appointment to be terminated if one of the attorneys
dies, resigns
or
otherwise vacates
office.
Or
b)
❏
Jointly
and
Severally (your attorneys may
act
individually,
or together with the other
attorneys
if they choose).
If no option
is selected
or the option
chosen is unclear
or inconsistent, I intend my attorneys to act
jointly and severally.
Nomination of substitute attorney/s
(optional)
If my
attorney/s vacates
office,
I
appoint:
[insert
full
name
and
address
of
substitute
attorney/s]
to be my substitute attorney/s.
My
substitute attorney/s are
to be appointed:
c)
❏
Jointly (your attorneys
must all act together).
Or
d)
❏
Jointly
and
Severally (your attorneys may
act
individually,
or together
with
the other
attorneys
if they choose).
General Power of
Attor
ney
Page
3
1403
(Please initial bottom of this page)
2. Powers
My attorney/s may
exercise
the authority conferred on my
attor
ney/s by Part 2 of the
Powers
of
Attorney Act 2003 to do anything on my behalf I may lawfully authorise an attorney to do.
Additional
powers
(optional)
❏
a)
I authorise m y
attorney to
give reasonable
gifts
as provided by
section
11(2) of the Powers of Attorney Act 2003.
❏
b)
I authorise
my attorney to confer
benefits
on the attorney to meet his/her
reasonable
living and
medical expenses
as provided
by
section 12(2)
of the
Powers
of Attorney Act 2003.
❏
c)
I authorise
my attorney to confer
benefits
on the following
person/s
to meet their
reasonable
living and
medical
expenses as provided
by
section 13(2)
of
the
Powers
of Attorney Act 2003.
[insert
full
name
and address]
and
(delete
if not required)
[insert
full
name
and address]
3.
Conditions
and Limitations
I
place
the following limits and/or
conditions
on the authority of my
attor
ney/s:
[insert any
limits and
conditions
- add more
pages
if necessary]
General Power of
Attor
ney
Page
4
1403
(Please initial bottom of this page)
4. Commencement
This
power of attorney operates:
Tick
the
applicable
box below (one only)
❏
a) Immediately;
❏
b) On and from up to and
including
;
(specify dates)
❏
c)
Whilst
I
am overseas;
❏
d)
Other
If no option
is selected
or the options
chosen
are
unclear
or
inconsistent,
I intend that the power of
attorney will operate immediately.
5. Your signature to make the appointment
DATE:
6. Attorney responsibilities
Your attorney must do the
following:
a) Keep your money and property separate from the attorney’s money and property
.
b) Keep reasonable accounts and records of your money and property.
c) Not benefit from being an attorney, unless expressly authorised by you.
d) Always act your best interests.
e) Always act honestly in all matters concerning you legal and financial affairs.
Failure
to do
so
may
incur civil
and/or
criminal
penalties.
LPI OFFICE USE
ON
L
Y
From the list below select the required form of execution by the PRINCIPAL
Standard
Company
Authorised officer of the principal
General Power of
Attor
ney
Page
5
1403
Important
information
• A power of attorney is an important and powerful legal document. You should get legal advice before you sign it.
•
It is important that you trust the person you are appointing as attorney to make financial decisions on your behalf.
They must be over 18 years old and must not be bankrupt or insolvent. If your financial affairs are complicated,
you should appoint an attorney who has the skills to deal with complex financial arrangements.
•
A power of attorney cannot be used for health or lifestyle decisions. You should appoint an enduring guardian
under the Guardianship Act 1987 if you want a particular person to make these decisions. For further information,
contact the Civil and Administrative Tribunal or NSW Trustee and Guardian.
•
Clause 2 of the power of attorney contains powers which will permit your attorney to use your money and assets
for the attorney or anyone else as provided. You should only tick boxes in Clause 2 if you want your attorney to
have that power/s.
• This power of attorney is for use in New South Wales only. If you need a power of attorney for interstate or
overseas, you may need to make a power of attorney under their laws. The laws of some other States and
Territories in Australia may give effect to this power of attorney. However, you should not assume this will be
the case. You should confirm whether the laws of the State or Territory concerned will in fact recognise this
power of attorney.
• Your attorney must keep the attorney’s own money and property separate from your money and property,
unless you are joint owners, or operate joint bank accounts. Your attorney should keep reasonable accounts
and records about your money and property. The costs of providing and maintaining these records by the
attorney may be recoverable from you.
•
If your attorney is signing certain documents that affect real estate, the power of attorney must be registered at
Land and Property Information NSW. Please contact LPI on T: 1300 052 637 to see whether the power of
attorney must be registered.
•
An
attor
ney
must
always
act
in
your
best
inter
est.
If
your
attor
ney
does
not
follow
your
dir
ections,
or
does
not act in your best interest, you should consider revoking the power of attorney. If you revoke the power of
attorney you should notify the attorney of the revocation, preferably in writing, that they are no longer your
attorney. The attorney must stop acting immediately once they have knowledge of the revocation.
•
This power of attorney does not automatically revoke earlier powers of attorney made by you. If you have made
a previous power of attorney which you do not want to continue, you must revoke the previous power of
attorney and give notice of the revocation to your previous attorneys, if you not already done so. You should
also give notice of the revocation to anyone who is aware of the earlier power of attorney.
Page
6
General Power of
Attor
ney
1403
Notes for completion
Joint
attorneys
If you appoint more than one attorney, you should indicate whether the
attorneys
are to act jointly, or jointly and severally.
Attorneys who are appointed jointly are only
able
to act and make
decisions
together.
Attorneys who are appointed jointly and
severally
(i.e. together or
individually)
are
able
to act and make decisions
independently
of
each
other.
However,
you
can specify
that a
simple
majority (if you appoint 3 or more
attorneys)
must agree before they
can
act.
Substitute
attor
ney/s
If you appoint a substitute attorney, they will only
have
authority to act
as
your attorney if the first appointed attorney dies,
resigns
or otherwise
vacates
their position.
You
can specify
for whom the substitute is to act (e.g. if you appoint A and B
as attorneys and
X and Y
as substitutes, you
can
specify
that X
takes A
’
s
place
if A
vacates
office).
If you
have
appointed a substitute attorney, it
may
be helpful that that
some
sort of documentation
evidencing
the vacation of
the original attorney is
attached
to this power of attorney when that
vacancy happens. This
will
assist
to
satisfy
a third party that
the substitute attorney is entitled to act for you.
Attorney
vacates
office
Section
5 of the
Powers
of Attorney Act 2003
states
that there is a
vacancy
in the office of attorney if the attorney dies,
resigns,
becomes
bankrupt,
loses
mental
capacity
or the authority to act is revoked.
Further
information
For
information on powers of attorney, the
attor
ney
’
s
duties and registration, contact
Land
and
Property
Information
www.lpi.nsw.gov.au, the
NSW Trustee
and
Guardian
www.tag.nsw.gov.au, a solicitor, or a trustee company.
The NSW
Gover
nment
’
s
Planning Ahead Tools
website www.planningaheadtools.com.au
provides
up-to-date information and
resources
about powers of attorney, enduring
guardianship,
wills and
advanced care
planning.
