Inquiry into Powers of Attorney
Terms of Reference
To the Law Reform Committee — for inquiry, consideration and report no later than 31 December 2009* on law reforms aimed at streamlining and simplifying powers of attorney documents to enable more Victorians to plan for their future financial, lifestyle and healthcare needs — specifically the Committee is asked to:
- consider the differing formality requirements and terminology, and coverage of the power of attorney documents, governed by the Instruments Act 1958 and the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986;
- establish whether the donor of a power of attorney has capacity to create a legally enforceable document and differing execution requirements and the different tests that apply;
- clarify the powers granted by the donor when making a power of attorney;
- examine ways of minimising abuse in relation to the execution of and exercise of powers under powers of attorney documents;
- consider the issue of legal capacity in the context of when an enduring power of attorney is executed and activated; and
- advise on the need for adopting potential safeguards such as the registration of documents (voluntary or mandatory).
* The reporting date was extended to 31 August 2010 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 13 August 2009.
Related legislation
The Instruments Act 1958 is available for download as a .pdf file (957Kb) from the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website by clicking here.
The Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 is available for download as a .pdf file (1069Kb) from the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website by clicking here.
The Instruments Act 1958 and the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 are also available for download from the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website in both PDF and Word document formats.