This article follows on from the previous article that outlined how our Estate Planning Team are overcoming the barriers to meeting with clients face to face and signing documents, and also emphasised the importance of not leaving documents to last minute.
In today’s day and age, we live on edge of when the next COVID-19 outbreak might be, when the next lockdown might happen, how long the lockdown will go for. We have no idea when it might be that we can travel overseas again, no idea if, when we go to travel interstate, we will get locked out of our own state. We have no idea when we might be caught up in a hotspot and have to quarantine for 14 days or become a casual or close contact.
Although a Will is one of the most important documents to have to ensure that your wishes are met when you pass away, it is also crucial to have your Enduring Power of Attorney and Appointment of Enduring Guardian in place to ensure you have people appointed to make important decisions on your behalf if you are unable.
Imagine being locked out of your state or locked down in your own home and unable to attend the bank or attend to important business affairs that you require to be done. If you have an Enduring Power of Attorney in place you would have someone with authority to do these things for you. If you are the director of a company and have a Corporate Power of Attorney, the attorney could continue doing things for the company as necessary without you.
Now more than ever before it is important to have these documents in place as anything can happen at any moment.
For older people, it may be that fear of getting sick or coming into contact with someone that is sick might keep you at home, so having an Enduring Power of Attorney in place could mean you do not need to leave your home and you can be relieved from that stress having someone do things for you.
Understandably, COVID-19 has caused so much anxiety and uncertainty in today’s world. That is why it is important to control what you can control and have peace of mind that if the worst happens, your wishes have been recorded.
Contact our Estate Planning Team today to discuss setting up the necessary documents to ensure you are protected through death, incapacity or even just a COVID-19 lockdown.
