Recorded Webinar: Tips and Traps in Drafting Enduring Financial Powers of Attorney to Reduce Elder Abuse Risk

One in two people over 85 will be afflicted with some form of dementia. That means that the enduring power of attorney is not only part of the estate planner’s armoury but an essential element of the estate plan - without it, you are not doing your job. As the problems with elder abuse multiply, the nature of the instructions you should be seeking and the protections you should be inserting are expanding. This presentation will focus specifically on the scope of the powers, including:

• Advising on the choices of attorney under power:

  • spouse, including spouse in a blended family

  • children - if more than one, what

  • professional advisers as attorneys under power

  • should the attorneys act jointly or jointly and severally?

• Provisions operating if the attorney losing capacity

• From when should the power take effect?

• Power – general:

  • making and changing BDBNs

  • seeking orders under the Family Law Act

  • making family provision applications

  • acting as a director in place of the donor

  • acting as an appointor or guardian in the place of the donor

• Conflict transactions:

  • the concept explained

  • sale of house/agreement re RAD

  • transactions benefiting grandchildren

  • making trust distributions

• Powers and limitations:

  • do you need/can you authorise conflict transactions? If so what?

  • what restrictions on powers are appropriate?