Consultation on enduring powers of attorney open

Public consultation on the effectiveness of the 2007 Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act ammendments were opened by the Ministry of Social Development on the 1st of March 2013.  The amendments aimed to provide better protection for any adult who wanted to put an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) in place and came into force in September 2008.

Enduring Power of Attorney includes two types: a Personal Care and Welfare EPA appoints one person as your attorney to make decisions about your personal care and welfare on your behalf if you become mentally incapable.  A Property EPA appoints one or more attorneys to manage and make decisions about your property affairs.  You can, if you wish, give your attorney authority to manage your property affairs while you still have capacity. More information is available on the MSD website.

EPAs can be relevant to elder abuse and neglect. Age Concern reports that finanical elder abuse can seriously impact on the health and wellbeing of older people, yet its complex nature means it often goes under-reported and unrecognised. Their 2011 report advocates for strategies such as the EPA procedures within the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act to help to prevent finanical elder abuse.

The ammendments aimed to provide better protection for people in the way EPAs are set up and in the way an attorney can act under them. Age Concern provides further information and guidelines on establishing an EPA.

Online and written consultation finishes at the end of June 2013.   A public meetings schedule runs until the 30th of June.

Update: Consultation findings and proposed amendments are due to be reported to Parliament by 30 September 2014.

For further information:

Elder abuse and neglect: a selected bibliography, New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse, August 2012.

Financial abuse of older people in New Zealand: a working paper, Age Concern and Institute of Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, November 2011.

Media:

Decision to improve rights of older people welcomed, Voxy, 20.06.2014

Protecting your future made easier, Beehive, 13.06.2014

Image: Money tunnel, RambergMediaImages, Licence: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)