Protect your autonomy with incapacity planning.
Plan for the unexpected. Protect your autonomy. Appoint trusted people to make decisions if you can’t.
Protect your assets from mismanagement or exploitation.
Provide clarity around your wishes for your loved ones, to avoid disputes or disagreements.
Ensure your healthcare wishes are respected.
We will assist you appoint someone to look after your personal and financial interests should you ever not be able to look after yourself.
While you can look after yourself now, the future is hard to predict. If you get hit on the head in an accident or suffer a mentally debilitating condition, then someone else will need to make personal and financial decisions for you. If you don’t take action now to appoint someone you trust, then a Tribunal will appoint someone to fill this critical role in your life.
We will assist you to appoint people who you know and trust to step into your shoes and make personal and financial decisions for you when you are incapacitated.
We will draft comprehensive legal documents including Enduring Powers of Attorney, Enduring Guardianship and Advanced Care Directives, tailored to your specific circumstances. We’ll ensure these documents provide clear guidance and sufficient powers to protect your interests.
We will ensure that someone can look after your interests when you are no longer able to.
With someone you know, and trust appointed to look out for you when you can’t look out for yourself, you can rest assured that your interests will be protected, no matter what happens.
Secure your future today.
Let us help you put in place arrangements to ensure the seamless continuation of your personal, financial, and business life, should you become unable to make decisions for yourself.
Who will protect your interests if you can’t?
While you are more than capable of looking after yourself now, there is no telling what the future holds. If for some reason you lose mental capacity, it is critical that someone you trust can immediately step in and protect your interests.
We will help you put in place the necessary arrangements to ensure that someone can easily step into your shoes, and protect and advance your interests, should you even not be able to look out for yourself.
The world should not rest entirely on your shoulders.
The ongoing orderly functioning of your family and business should not be entirely dependent on you remaining fit and healthy. If something unexpected and awful should happen, you should not lose control of everything.
You’re a successful individual with diverse and sophisticated personal and financial interests. You’ve worked hard to build security for yourself and your family. You’re accustomed to being in control and making important decisions. The thought of losing that control is unsettling.
People depend on you, and the quality and timeliness of the decisions you make each day. Your family relies on your judgment, and your business needs your direction. You want to ensure that if something happens to you, both will continue to thrive under the guidance of people you trust.
If you were to lose mental capacity, even for a short period, the consequences for you, your family, and those around you would be huge. At best, someone would need to apply to your State or Territory Tribunal to be appointed to step into your shoes. At worst, this would trigger internal disharmony as people competed for the ability to make decisions on your behalf. Your medical care might not reflect your wishes, your financial affairs could fall into disarray, and family relationships might fracture under the strain of uncertainty.
Planning for the unthinkable.
You need to appoint someone you know and trust to make personal and financial decisions for you if you become mentally incapacitated and cannot make those decisions for yourself.
Without proper documents in place, your autonomy will be compromised, and critical decisions about your health, finances, and business might be made by people you wouldn’t choose or by government officials who don’t know you.
If you become incapacitated and have not made a valid appointment, then you will be in the hands of your State or Territory Tribunal. Someone will need to apply to the relevant authorities to be appointed to make decisions for you. If more than one person applies, the Tribunal will need to make a decision. This will be a stressful, uncertain and costly time for all involved.
Additionally:
- Your healthcare decisions may not reflect your values or wishes
- Your finances could be frozen while applications are pending
- Your business operations might be interrupted or compromised
- Family conflict may arise over who should make decisions
- Legal costs could deplete your assets
- Inactivity over your personal affairs while the appropriate person is being appointed
Your decisions. Your trusted people. Your peace of mind.
We help you regain a sense of control over the uncontrollable. By putting proper incapacity planning documents in place, you’ll have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve planned for every contingency. You’ll be able to live your life without the nagging worry of what might happen if your capacity becomes compromised.
We will help you appoint appropriate people to make personal and financial decisions for you when you are not able to make them for yourself. We will ensure that the documents are valid and up-to-date, and provide your decision makers with all the powers they need to ensure your interests are protected and advanced.
With people you trust appointed to protect and advance your interests, you can rest assured that you will continue to be looked after, and live with the dignity that you deserve. You’ll have confidence that your affairs will be handled according to your wishes, even if you cannot express them. Your family will be spared the burden of making difficult decisions without guidance, and the stress of navigating bureaucracy during an already challenging time.
Our Incapacity Planning Process
Plan today. Protect tomorrow.
Step 1
Talk with a lawyer
We’ll meet to understand your personal circumstances, financial situation, and wishes regarding future decision-making.
Step 2
Formulate a plan
We’ll recommend the appropriate legal documents tailored to your specific needs and help you select suitable decision-makers.
Step 3
Execute the plan
We’ll draft comprehensive and legally sound documents that clearly outline your wishes and provide necessary powers to your appointees.
Step 4
Move forward with confidence
We’ll guide you through the execution process and provide ongoing support to ensure your documents remain current as circumstances change.
Your voice will be heard. Your wishes will be respected. Your legacy will be protected.
We understand how critical your decisions are for the ongoing stability of your family and business. We also understand that an external decision-maker simply would not have the insight and experience to make the necessary decisions on your behalf or on time.
We know what it feels like to worry about losing control over important aspects of your life and business.
Like you, we are frustrated by systems that put bureaucracy above personal autonomy and sometimes fail to respect individual wishes. We know that contemplating incapacity is uncomfortable, but we’ve seen the relief that comes with having proper planning in place. We care about preserving your independence and ensuring your voice is heard, even when you cannot speak for yourself.
We have helped thousands of clients put in place comprehensive and robust arrangements to ensure that good decisions continue to be made on their behalf in the event of their mental incapacity.
Kasia Maczuga
Catherine Fairlie
Our Great Lawyer Guarantee
We want to be part of your team over the long term. We’ll achieve this by sticking closely to the following key principles
Take the time
We’ll listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve. Then we’ll thoroughly explain our advice and step you through the documents. You can be sure you’ll know the full consequences.
Work as a team
Someone will always be available to answer your questions, or point you in the right direction. You will also benefit from a range of perspectives and experience.
Shared knowledge
One of our key goals is to pass on as much knowledge as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions. We want to make you truly independent.
Stick to our knitting
We only do what we’re good at. You can be confident that we know what we’re doing and won’t pass on the cost of our learning.
Transparent pricing
For advice and documents, we provide a fixed or capped quote so you don’t take price risk. If you’re in a dispute, we’ll map out the process and costs so you know what to expect.
It's your show!
We’re not in this game for our egos. We’re in it for a front row seat to witness your success.
Your solution, our fixed-fee pricing.
We understand you want to know exactly what our services will cost before making a commitment. After our initial consultation, where we’ll understand your specific goals and circumstances, we’ll provide you with a detailed Work Proposal outlining:
- The specific legal services we’ll provide
- The exact fixed fee for these services
- The timeline for completion
Our fixed fair fees are all-inclusive. No hidden costs for telephone calls, emails, photocopying, or other administrative expenses.
Take the first step
Call us now to book an appointment with one of our experienced estate planning lawyers.
We’ll discuss the best way to pass on your wealth, and gain peace of mind.
Want to know more? Read some of our insights at the links below.