Not everyone is in a position to appoint the Archangel Michael as their Enduring Guardian. A close family member may be a useful alternative: Le Grand Saint Michel, by Raffaello Sanzio c.1518
Where a Power of Attorney is in relation to the legal and financial affairs of the principal, the Appointment of Enduring Guardian deals with healthcare and lifestyle decisions of the appointor.
Further, where a Power of Attorney most often operates immediately, the Enduring Guardian only operates once the appointor has lost the capability (either in full or in part) of looking after themselves.
As set out in Section 6E of the Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW) an enduring guardian is authorised to exercise the following functions:
- deciding the place (such as a specific nursing home, or the appointor’s own home) in which the appointor is to live;
- deciding the health care that the appointor is to receive;
- deciding the other kinds of personal services that the appointor is to receive;
- giving consent (under certain provisions of the Act) to the carrying out of medical or dental treatment on the appointor; and
- any other function relating to the appointor’s person that is specified in the instrument.
As with the Enduring Power of Attorney, the Appointment of Enduring Guardian is a document you should execute, file away (or keep in safe custody with your solicitor or bank) and hopefully never need to use, but one which you will definitely regret not executing when you could have and fail to do so.
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