Budgeting
Planning & budgeting
Saving & investing
KiwiSaver
Tackling debt
Protecting wealth
Retirement
Home buying
Life events
Setting goals
Money tracking
Plan your spending with a budget
Getting advice
Studying
Get better with money
What pūtea beliefs do you have?
How to save your money
How to start investing
Find a financial adviser to help you invest
Your investment profile
Compound interest
Net worth
Types of investments
Term deposits
Bonds
Investment funds
Shares
Property investment
How KiwiSaver works and why it's worth joining
How to pick the right KiwiSaver fund
Make the most of KiwiSaver and grow your balance
How KiwiSaver can help you get into your first home
Applying for a KiwiSaver hardship withdrawal
How to use buy now pay later
What you really need to know before you use credit
How to get out of debt quickly
Credit reports
Know your rights
Pros and cons of debt consolidation
Credit cards
Car loans
Personal loans
Hire purchase
Student loans
Getting a fine
What happens if I start to struggle with moni?
How to protect yourself from fraud and being scammed
About insurance
Insurance types
Insuring ourselves
Wills
Enduring powers of attorney
Family trusts
Insuring our homes
Losing a partner
Redundancy
Serious diagnosis
How to cope with the aftermath of fraud
Separation
About NZ Super
This year's NZ Super rates
When you’re thinking of living in a retirement village
How to plan, save and invest for retirement
Manage your money in retirement
Find housing options in retirement
Planning & budgeting
Saving & investing
KiwiSaver
Tackling debt
How to use buy now pay later
What you really need to know before you use credit
How to get out of debt quickly
Credit reports
Know your rights
Pros and cons of debt consolidation
Credit cards
Car loans
Personal loans
Hire purchase
Student loans
Getting a fine
What happens if I start to struggle with moni?
View all
Protecting wealth
Retirement
Home buying
Resources
Videos
Podcasts
Just wondering
Help with the cost of living
In need of financial help
Booklets
Glossary
Blogs
View all
Reading time: 4 minutes
An enduring power of attorney (EPA) is a legal document giving someone the power to act for us.
There are two types: one for money and property, the other for personal care and welfare.
There are two types of EPAs: one for money and property, the other for personal care and welfare. It is recommended to have both.
These rights can be given to the same person or to different people, but even if given to the same person, each power needs to be granted specifically and separately. There is the opportunity to be clear about where the rights can be applied.
Everyone 18 or older – whether young or old – should establish an EPA for both their property and their welfare. And, as it needs to be done when people are still mentally capable, it makes sense to do it as soon as possible.
People tend to think only the elderly are likely to need someone to manage their affairs but anyone can become mentally incapable at any age. An accident or illness may be the prompt for needing an EPA.
Anyone can appoint one 'attorney' (or more than one) for their money and property. An EPA for property can be activated straight away and, once that’s done, our attorney(s) can act for us on our instructions.
There may come a time when a qualified health practitioner assesses that we aren’t able to make these decisions ourselves – from that point on our attorney will have the power to act for us. As an alternative to it being activated straight away, we can choose for the EPA to only come into effect if this happens.
Without an enduring power of attorney, no one else can deal with our property or financial affairs on our behalf without a court order. Our family and even our partner or spouse may need to go to court to get this power. Not having an EPA can cause our loved ones a lot of stress and cost them a lot of money too.
Things our attorney can do for us include managing bank accounts, paying bills, or buying and selling property on our behalf.
We can only appoint one attorney for our personal care and welfare. This enduring power of attorney is only activated once we are assessed as not being able to care for ourselves. This type of attorney can make decisions about things like medical treatment.
An attorney should be someone we trust. We can appoint different people to be attorneys for the two different areas – but we need to make sure they are people who can work well together!
For personal care and welfare the attorney can be a family member, friend or anyone who has our best interests at heart. It can only be one person at a time and cannot be a trustee company.
For a property EPA the attorney can be one or more people, or a professional trustee company. If more than one person is appointed, we can require that they act together, so that they both have to sign any documents on our behalf, or we can allow each of them to act independently, but always in consultation with the other person.
For both personal care and welfare and for property, a successor attorney can be appointed, who will become our attorney if the first person can’t act as our attorney, for example if they have died or are incapacitated.
Our attorney has to consult us as much as they can when they are making decisions for us.
Public Trust has more information.
Independent legal advice is required before creating an enduring power of attorney, as is having the documents witnessed by a lawyer, qualified legal executive or representative of a trustee corporation. Even married couples need separate legal advisers. This is serious business!
For more information talk to a lawyer or a community law centre. You'll also find more from the Office for Seniors, including resources in different languages. There's helpful information and a downloadable booklet on the Age Concern website and more details from Consumer and the New Zealand Law Society. Online platforms such as LawHawk also offer low-cost options for wills and enduring powers of attorney.
Guide
The uncertainty that comes with losing a job or redundancy is a challenge, but leaving one role always opens up…
Guide
The idea with a family trust is to protect the ownership of our assets. Here’s how trusts work: we transfer the…
Guide
Life is full of risks of things that could happen. . . The house burning down, the car being stolen, illness…
Guide
When a relationship ends – especially later in life – it can entirely upend your money life. Separating couples often…
Guide
It can happen to anyone
Falling victim to a scam is far more common than we might think. Scammers and frausters…
Guide
Since a home will probably be the biggest asset we own, we’ll need to protect it in case something unexpected happens. With…
Guide
Sorting out your will brings you and your people peace of mind. Should you ever need to exit this world…
Guide
Sometimes things go pear-shaped. If an earthquake strikes, our house burns down, our car is in a crash or we…
Guide
Losing a partner is no time to have to deal with money issues. Yet there is quite a lot to…
Guide
Being diagnosed with a serious or terminal illness can be overwhelming. Those niggly, everyday practical things can suddenly feel huge.…
Don’t know where to start? Our 6 steps will help you to take control of your money.
Head to the 6 stepsUse verification code from your authenticator app. How to use authenticator apps.
Code is invalid. Please try again
Don't have an account? Sign up
Or log in with our social media platforms
A Sorted account gives you a personal dashboard where you can save your tools, track your progress and you'll also receive helpful money tips and guidance straight to your inbox.
Or sign up with our social media platforms