Frequently asked questions about powers of attorney

About powers of attorney

If you don’t have an enduring power of attorney, it could cause problems for your family if your decision-making ability becomes impaired.
For example, no one may be able to access your bank accounts to pay your bills, family conflict may arise when deciding who makes decisions about personal/health matters for you and there may be delays if there is a need to formally appoint someone to make decisions for you.
If someone needs to make decisions for you, and there is no enduring power of attorney, then the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) may become involved to hold a hearing to have someone appointed. This decision will be made by QCAT rather than you.
An attorney is the person you name in an enduring power of attorney to make decisions for you or act for you when you are unable to. You can have more than one attorney. Attorneys can be appointed to manage your financial matters and/or your personal and health matters.
Yes, you can have more than one attorney in place. If you do have more than one attorney, you must decide whether you want them to act jointly (all must agree) or whether they can act independently (severally—act without other attorneys agreeing) or by majority (majority agree).
In your enduring power of attorney document, you can direct your attorney to provide information to one or more people about your financial or personal matters. You might choose to do this if you want other family members to have the information but not ‘power’ to take actions, for example. The people you nominate to receive this information are called your nominated persons. Read this guide for more information about nominated persons.
Yes, it can be changed or cancelled if you still have capacity to make this decision.
You should consider whether you need to update or change your enduring power of attorney if your relationship status changes such as divorce, marriage or ending of a de facto relationship.
No, your attorney cannot continue to act under the enduring power of attorney as the enduring power of attorney is cancelled when you pass away.
Where your attorney lives is an important consideration when choosing an attorney. Someone living overseas may have a lot of trouble trying to support you with financial matters or make health decisions for you, especially when they cannot be with you.

You can decide when you want your attorney for financial matters to start acting in the enduring power of attorney. For example, you could say that you want your attorney for financial matters to be able to act immediately or you could say that you want your attorney to start acting after you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself.
Your attorney for personal/health matters cannot start making health or personal decisions until you lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself.
Only certain people can witness an enduring power of attorney. They must be either a justice of the peace, a commissioner for declarations, a lawyer or a notary public.
There is currently no central registry for enduring powers of attorney. Your attorney may need to register the enduring power of attorney with Titles Queensland if they need to deal with any property you own.
You can send a copy of your enduring power of attorney to the Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning for upload to your Queensland Health electronic hospital record, to allow easy access by authorised clinicians.
This is a very important document that you should keep in a safe place. It would be important that your attorney(s) knows where it is, and you may give your doctor a copy of it as well.
Queensland Public Trustee provides a free safe custody service, and you can lodge the original enduring power of attorney with us.
No, an enduring power of attorney appoints someone else to make decisions on your behalf, whereas an advance health directive sets out your wishes directly to your medical treatment providers should you be unable to communicate what your wishes for medical treatment are. Find out more about the Advance health directive.
An attorney is personally accountable for their actions. If they mismanage your affairs, whether deliberately or by negligence, they can be held liable. This can include facing court or the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to recover money and may even lead to criminal charges. The Public Guardian has powers to investigate complaints if an attorney (for financial, health or personal matters) is acting improperly.
By law, your attorney must act honestly and with reasonable diligence to protect your interests. You may consider a nominated person in your enduring power of attorney so your attorney must provide information to this person.

Attorneys need to apply a set of general principles which are found in the Powers of Attorney Act 1998. According to these principles, attorneys should consult with your support network, which will most likely include close family members. You may consider adding a clause in your enduring power of attorney which requires your attorney to consult with people you name.
No, they are two different things.
In Queensland, an attorney is not a lawyer—the attorney is your principal decision-maker in your enduring power of attorney.
No, an executor is the person who you name in your Will to distribute your estate after your die. Your attorney is the person you nominate in your enduring power of attorney and makes decisions for you while you are alive. Your attorney cannot act after you pass away.
Your spouse may be able to support you with financial and personal/health matters, but there may be some things your spouse may not be able to do. For example, in most circumstances, they may not be able to deal with assets you own solely or accounts that are in your name only. A lot of people will nominate their spouse as their attorney under an enduring power of attorney so they can act for them to avoid any issues, problems or additional stress for them.
Yes, you can. Find more information and resources about Power of attorney. You may consider having a professional to help you to make sure it has the correct clauses in place to reflect your wishes should you become unable to make decisions and to ensure it is correctly witnessed.
No, Queensland Public Trustee is not automatically appointed by QCAT. QCAT decides who will manage your financial affairs—it may be Queensland Public Trustee, or it could be someone close to you.

Enduring powers of attorney services

If you don’t have an enduring power of attorney, it could cause problems and issues for your family. For example, no one may be able to access your bank accounts to pay bills, there may be issues and conflict about who makes personal/health decisions for you and there may be delays in having someone formally appointed to make decisions for you. If someone needs to make decisions about financial matters, then the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) may need to hold a hearing to have someone appointed. This decision is made by QCAT rather than you.
Yes, you can. You will need to decide whether they must act jointly or independently and on what matters.
Yes, it can be changed or cancelled if you still have capacity to make this decision.
You should consider whether you need to update or change your enduring power of attorney if your relationship status changes such as divorce, marriage or ending of a de facto relationship where your partner is the named attorney.
If you wish to appoint a nominated person, we recommend you choose a trusted person and someone who is completely independent to your attorney, and who can check that the attorney is making decisions in your interests. This could be a family member, friend or colleague who will likely undertake the role at no charge. You should discuss your intentions with the family member, friend or colleague before naming them as the nominated person.
Yes, you could consider appointing a lawyer, accountant or trustee organisation like Queensland Public Trustee. Professionals such as these will likely charge you a fee for this service, and it is recommended that you speak to them before naming them as your nominated person.
Queensland Public Trustee charges fees for its nominated person services.
Before naming Queensland Public Trustee as your Nominated Person in your enduring power of attorney, you should review the material available on our website and chat with us. To find out more about our Nominated Person service, view our:
You can nominate Queensland Public Trustee to receive information about your financial affairs as your nominated person for financial matters. Queensland Public Trustee is unable to act as a nominated person for personal (including health) matters.