Bank Rejected Power of Attorney in Canberra: What to Do Next

You've walked into a Canberra bank branch with your parent's enduring power of attorney, expecting to manage their accounts while they recover from surgery or deal with cognitive decline. The teller scans the document, disappears into a back office, and returns with a refusal. It happens more often than you'd expect, and the frustration is compounded by the fact that you did everything the Powers of Attorney Act 2006 asked you to do.

Why Canberra Banks Refuse Enduring Powers of Attorney

Banks in the ACT aren't rejecting your EPA out of spite. They carry their own liability if they release funds to someone whose authority turns out to be invalid. The most common reasons for rejection fall into a few predictable categories.

The document is too old. Some institutions have internal policies that flag EPAs older than a certain number of years, even though the Powers of Attorney Act 2006 imposes no expiry date on a validly executed EPA. The bank may request a statutory declaration confirming the EPA hasn't been revoked and the principal still lacks capacity.

Witnessing errors. Section 19 of the Act requires two adult witnesses, with at least one being a prescribed witness such as a Justice of the Peace or legal practitioner. If your EPA's witness certificates are incomplete, unsigned, or the witnesses weren't eligible, the bank has legitimate grounds to refuse. A relative of the attorney witnessing alongside a non-prescribed witness, for instance, breaches the statutory requirements.

The attorney hasn't signed acceptance. An EPA is ineffective in relation to an attorney until that attorney signs the Acceptance of Appointment section, so that attorney cannot exercise property powers until acceptance. Banks routinely check this, and an unsigned acceptance is an immediate disqualifier.

Certified copies aren't accepted. Some banks insist on sighting the original document. Others accept certified copies but require specific certification — often from a Justice of the Peace rather than a photocopied scan.

The EPA doesn't cover property matters. The ACT EPA form lets the principal choose which powers to grant: property, personal care, health care, or medical research. If the principal only ticked personal care and health care, the attorney has no authority over bank accounts.

Steps to Resolve a Bank Rejection

Start by asking the bank to provide their refusal in writing, specifying exactly which element of the EPA they consider deficient. This forces the bank to commit to a concrete reason rather than a vague institutional reluctance.

If the issue is a missing attorney acceptance, have the attorney sign the acceptance section immediately. The principal doesn't need to be present for this — the attorney's signature doesn't require witnesses under the Act.

If the issue is document age, prepare a statutory declaration confirming that the EPA remains in force, the principal has lost or is losing decision-making capacity, and you are not aware of any revocation. Have this witnessed by a JP at one of Canberra's JP signing centres in Belconnen, Tuggeranong, or the city.

If the issue is a genuine witnessing defect, the situation is more difficult. A principal who still has capacity can revoke the defective EPA and execute a new one with proper witnesses. If the principal has already lost capacity, you may need to apply to ACAT for a financial management order — there is no filing fee for these applications, but hearings typically take four to six weeks.

For banks that simply refuse to honour a valid EPA without a legitimate legal basis, you can lodge a formal complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). The Powers of Attorney Act 2006 doesn't include a penalty provision for banks that unreasonably refuse, but the reputational and regulatory pressure from an AFCA complaint usually resolves the standoff.

Preventing Rejection Before It Happens

The most effective strategy is to present your EPA to each of the principal's financial institutions before you actually need to use it. Ask the bank to note the EPA on the principal's account records while the principal still has capacity and can confirm their instructions in person if needed. This pre-registration step isn't legally required, but it eliminates nearly every practical friction point.

Our Australian Capital Territory Power of Attorney Kit includes a bank compliance checklist that walks you through the pre-registration process for each major institution, along with template letters for responding to rejections.

When Bank Rejection Signals a Bigger Problem

If the bank's refusal reveals a genuine defect in the EPA — a witnessing error, a missing power category, or a capacity question — you're better off discovering it now than in an emergency. An invalid EPA means no one has legal authority over the principal's finances, and if they've already lost capacity, the only path forward is an ACAT management order.

The ACT Public Trustee and Guardian can act as a financial manager of last resort, but their fees start at $340 per hour for standard matters and include capital commissions of up to 4.4% on the first $300,000 of assets. A properly executed EPA costs a fraction of that and keeps decision-making within the family.

Get the complete ACT Power of Attorney Kit to make sure your EPA is bank-ready from day one.

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