An Enduring Power of Attorney is an important planning tool that ensures your financial decisions will be looked after if you become unable to manage your own affairs.

Karen Williams (ADA Law), Dr Patricia Reyes (Consultant Geriatrician at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney) and John Chesterman (Public Advocate, Queensland) discussed the ins and outs of preparing an Enduring Power of Attorney document that meets your needs.

They covered the following topics:

• What an Enduring Power of Attorney is and the key things you need to think about when creating one? Starting the process? What it should include? Plus loads of other helpful tips.
• Capacity and why it’s so important and how it is determined?
• How you go about choosing the right Attorney
• What’s involved to be an Attorney for someone, including what makes a good attorney and common mistakes.
• The factors that LGBTQIA+ people and other community groups should consider

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Living with your adult child? Co-purchasing property with a friend? Or building an extension or granny flat with family? These common arrangements often involve an older person exchanging their property or assets in return for housing and/or care as they age. Learn more about why you should establish a formal family agreement.

• Find out what a Family Agreement is and why you might need one
• Learn more about what a Family Agreement should include
• Discover the steps to making a Family Agreement
• Get advice on what you can do when things go wrong
• Learn more about gifting money or property to a family member or other person, or moving house and how it can affect the amount of age pension a person receives

"Older people largely know about the value of making a Will and an Enduring Power of Attorney, but much fewer know about the value of creating a formal Family Agreement. Families often enter into significant financial and care arrangements with each other verbally, with no written documentation, or clear set of rules, and very little planning for worse case scenarios. This can leave older people vulnerable to abuse.” Russell Westacott, Co-Chair Elder Abuse Action Australia (EAAA)

Panellists include:

• Professor Eileen Webb – Professor of Law and Ageing in the School of Law. Eileen’s scholarly research focuses on ageing and the law (elder law) and the human rights of older people. Her recent research has focused older people’s rights to housing including security of tenure for older people and how the operation of existing laws may make older people susceptible to financial exploitation and housing vulnerability. 

• Dr Rachel Carson – A socio-legal researcher with expertise in family law and qualitative research about family law disputes. Rachel is a Senior Research Fellow and Executive Manager/Team Lead of the Family Law, Family Violence and Elder Abuse Research Team at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. She has twenty years’ experience researching the Australian family law system.

• Melanie Joosten – Joosten is a social worker and writer who has worked in the areas of ageing, social policy and elder abuse for the last ten years at Seniors Rights Victoria and the National Ageing Research Institute. She is the author of the book A Long Time Coming: Essays on Old Age.

Moderated by:

• Philippa McDonald – Philippa McDonald is a high profile, award winning journalist and communicator who has covered Australian and international news and current affairs.

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