24/06/2019

Sometimes it’s necessary to change your power of attorney in which case you’re going to need to revoke the existing appointment.

What would happen if you decided that the person you have appointed as your Enduring Power of Attorney is no longer suitable for the role. Perhaps your relationship with your previously appointed attorney isn’t what it used to be – maybe you’ve grown apart, maybe they have personal issues of their own that they need to focus on, or maybe they just won’t stop talking about cryptocurrency and what a great investment it can be.

These are all worrying signs, and you’d prefer to give this responsibility to someone else.

Now imagine that you’ve appointed a new attorney and the old attorney doesn’t know. They live their life quite happily under the assumption that they are still your attorney. See the problem? You haven’t protected your assets from the crypto-currency king. For all they know, they retain the right to make certain decisions for you – and the law agrees with them.

A revocation is needed to validly remove an attorney’s rights and responsibilities from an existing Power of Attorney.

You can do this by revoking the entire Power of Attorney (and then drawing up a new one), or by revoking the appointment of a specific attorney or attorneys. Rules vary by State as to how this should be executed, and frankly it can be a shambles.

Luckily, dealing with ‘shambles’ is what we do!

We’re rolling out a number of online forms so that we can help you get that revocation under way. Quick, clean, simple and intuitive, these documents are the first, necessary step towards creating a new Enduring Power of Attorney.

Give us a call (Townsends Business & Corporate Lawyers on (02) 8296 6222 or email info@townsendslaw.com.au to see how we can assist) if you need to revoke a power of attorney and make sure you’re only represented by those who aren’t going to invest your money in digital currencies!