Enduring Guardianship

An Enduring Guardianship is a legal document that allows you to nominate another person to make decisions about your health and lifestyle on your behalf when you are incapacitated. You may become incapacitated due to an illness, a serious accident such as a car accident in which you sustain brain damage, or the progression of a disease that affects your cognitive abilities, such as dementia. The Enduring Guardianship only comes into effect if and when you become incapacitated.

An Enduring Guardian can make decisions about your:

Healthcare
Accommodation
Community services you receive such as home care assistance
Other personal and lifestyle decisions.

You can limit the powers you give to your Guardian if you wish. Whilst you still have a decision-making capacity, you can write an Advance Care Directive, which outlines what healthcare you would or would not like to receive if you become incapacitated.

An Enduring Guardianship can be made by any person over 18 years of age who has the capacity to nominate an Enduring Guardian. This means that a person must be capable of understanding the nature and effect of an Enduring Guardianship at the time that the document is made. They must be able to make their own decisions and clearly communicate what those decisions are.

The person that makes the Enduring Guardianship is called the Appointor and the person who is nominated by the Appointor to manage their health and lifestyle is called the ‘Guardian’. The appointment of an Enduring Guardian is governed by the Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW).

A Guardian needs to be over the age of 18 and someone who you trust. Your Guardian cannot be a person or relative of a person who, at the time of appointment, provides medical treatment or care to you professionally, for reward, or on behalf of another person who provides medical treatment or care to you for reward.

You can revoke an Enduring Guardian in New South Wales. This is done by writing a revocation document. The revocation document should include your intention to revoke the appointment, the name of the Enduring Guardian whose appointment is being revoked, and your signature.

Under section 6HA of the Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW), the appointment of an Enduring Guardian ceases, if the appointer marries or remarries after the date the appointment was made, unless the Enduring Guardian is the person you have married.

At PW Lawyers we can:

Give you professional advice about your circumstances.
Give you advice about discussing your decisions with your family to avoid unnecessary conflict and stress.
Help you appoint an Enduring Guardian.

Any information on this website is general in nature and should not be taken as personal legal advice. We recommend that you speak to a lawyer about your personal circumstances.