Enduring Guardianship Lawyer

What you need to know.

NSW Enduring Guardianships

Enduring Guardianships give authority to the person(s) you nominate to make decisions about your person if you can’t make decisions for yourself.

The guardian(s) appointed under an Enduring Guardianship are person(s) who have authority to tell doctors what your wishes are for medical and dental treatment, life extending measures (if any), to make decisions about personal services you receive and decisions about where you live.

Enduring Guardianships give authority to the person(s) you nominate to make decisions about your person if you can’t make decisions for yourself.

Why do I need an Enduring Guardianship?

In a nutshell – if you need it, you can longer sign it. You must be partly or wholly incapacitated – whether temporarily or permanently – for an Enduring Guardianship document to be used. It will be up to a medical practitioner to confirm if you have lost enough mental capacity for this document to kick in (and not based on that time you decided to oven bake a lettuce salad). Once you are at the stage of needing someone you trust to make personal decisions for you – someone you have had a conversation with about what decisions you would like made if you can’t make them for yourself – you want to have an Enduring Guardianship document already signed and ready to be used.

As with Powers of Attorney and Wills, you can only prepare this document while you have mental capacity. Once there is a need, it is often too late.

“Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”
– Richard Cushing

Will my Enduring Guardianship expire or need to be renewed?

Unless your Enduring Guardianship is legally revoked by you, it will generally continue to be able to be used.

Divorce does NOT revoke a NSW Enduring Guardianship so if you have separated since preparing your Enduring Guardianship document and you appointed your ex-spouse, you may wish to revoke the document. Perhaps ironically, marriage does in fact revoke an Enduring Guardianship so keep this in mind if you have had recent nuptials or intend to marry.

While you have mental capacity you can revoke an Enduring Guardianship and prepare a new one. A new Enduring Guardianship does not revoke a previous one; you need to prepare a Revocation of Appointment of Enduring Guardian document and provide a copy to the guardian(s).

What happens if I don’t have an Enduring Guardianship?

Despite popular opinion, your spouse or children don’t automatically have the legal authority to make personal, medical and lifestyle decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated. They would need to be appointed as a guardian under your Enduring Guardianship. You may already have been asked by your treating doctor if you have a Power of Attorney or Enduring Guardianship document. This is because if you need an Enduring Guardianship and don’t have one, your family may not be able to make decisions on your behalf: they may not be able to consent to elective procedures, they may not be able to arrange in home care, respite care or residence at an aged care facility. This leaves your family in a position where their only alternative is to apply to NCAT NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for Guardianship Orders.

NSW Advanced Health Care Directives

Advanced Health Care Directives are different to Enduring Guardianship documents; they can provide your guardian(s) information on the choices you would like made e.g. whether you want life extending measures and in what circumstances. In NSW, Advanced Health Care Directives can’t give legal authority to your guardians to make decisions for you, only Enduring Guardianships can.

How much does an Enduring Guardianship cost?

We offer fixed fee pricing so you know what you’re up for upfront and with full transparency. We have a blackboard pricing list for all our legal services, including Estate Planning documents such as Enduring Guardianship and Revocation of Enduring Guardianships that can be accessed here.

Why choose Copeland Estates Legal to be your Estate Planning Lawyer?

Copeland Estates Legal provides legal advice and documents prepared by an experienced lawyer who deals exclusively in Estate Planning law and Deceased Estates law. You know, the whole life cycle. And so you know you are getting the best result and protection for you and your family – getting estate planning documents in place to future proof your family is not an afterthought for us, it is the bees knees, the be all and end all, our nirvana.

And unlike traditional law firms, we look after you from the comfort of your own home. We are online for your convenience. No need to carve out a section of your busy day to drive to a stuffy lawyer’s office and wait for them to get around to seeing you. We use everyday, accessible technology – such as zoom, phone, email – to meet you, get to know you, listen to your fears and and goals, provide you with the right legal advice and prepare the right legal documents you need to protect and plan for the best future for your unique family.