Have you heard about enduring guardianship and thought why do I need an enduring guardianship?
Clients come to see us regarding their wills, and we always recommend that they put a Power of Attorney and Enduring Guardianship in place.
So what is an Enduring Guardianship? The word “guardian” implies you are appointing guardians to care for your children when you die, but this is misleading.
An Enduring Guardian is someone that you appoint to:
- Decide the health care you receive
- Decide the place where you live (such as a specific nursing home, or your own home)
- Decide the other kinds of personal services that you receive
- Give consent to carry out medical or dental treatment for you
- If you so wish, to make other decisions for you such as end-of-life decisions
Your Enduring Guardian can only act for you if you are incapable of managing these matters for yourself because of a disability. It is important to appoint an Enduring Guardian when you are capable of doing so because you never know when you might be unable to make these decisions for yourself. The person you appoint must be someone that you trust to make decisions in your best interests.
What happens if I don’t appoint an enduring guardian?
If you are unable to make decisions for yourself because of a disability, there are of course some decisions that family members can make for you, but not all. Someone such as a family member will need to apply to the Court or Tribunal to have an enduring guardian appointed for you.
