How to Choose an Attorney for Your ACT Power of Attorney

Picking who will manage your finances and make healthcare decisions if you lose capacity is the most consequential choice in the entire EPA process. The ACT's Powers of Attorney Act 2006 gives you several structural options — a single attorney, multiple attorneys acting jointly, jointly and severally, or a layered arrangement with substitutes — and each has real operational consequences that go well beyond the signing ceremony.

Single Attorney vs Multiple Attorneys

Appointing one attorney is the simplest structure. That person has sole authority to act across whatever categories you've granted — property, personal care, health care, or medical research. The advantage is speed: one person makes decisions without needing to consult or coordinate. The risk is concentration. If that attorney becomes unavailable (illness, travel, death, or a falling out with you), nobody can step in unless you've named a substitute.

Multiple attorneys add a layer of protection but introduce coordination requirements. The ACT form requires you to specify how multiple attorneys must act:

Jointly means all appointed attorneys must agree on every decision and sign every transaction together. This provides maximum oversight — no single attorney can act alone. But it's operationally slow. If one attorney is travelling or unreachable, the others are paralysed. If one attorney dies or becomes incapacitated, the remaining attorneys may lose their authority entirely depending on the document's terms.

Jointly and severally means each attorney can act independently, but they can also act together. This is the most practical arrangement for day-to-day financial management. Either attorney can go to the bank, sign documents, or make medical consent decisions without waiting for the other. The tradeoff is less oversight — each attorney operates on their own authority, and disagreements between them can create confusion for third parties like banks.

Naming Substitute Attorneys

A substitute attorney steps in when a primary attorney can no longer act — because they've died, lost their own capacity, resigned, or been removed by ACAT. Without substitutes, the failure of your only attorney (or all your attorneys) leaves you in the same position as having no EPA at all: an ACAT application, weeks of delay, and potential PTG involvement at $340 per hour.

You can name one or more substitutes. Each substitute should be clearly identified and linked to the specific attorney they replace. The substitute's authority activates automatically when the primary attorney can no longer act — there's no separate triggering process.

The substitute must also sign the Acceptance of Appointment section of the EPA, just like a primary attorney. If you name a substitute who hasn't signed acceptance, their appointment exists on paper but they can't actually exercise the property powers until they do.

What Makes a Good Attorney

For an individual attorney, the legal requirements include being an adult (18 or older). For property matters, the Act also excludes a person who is bankrupt or personally insolvent. In practice, the qualities that matter are:

Trustworthiness with money. If you're granting property powers, this person will have access to your bank accounts, investments, and real estate. The fiduciary duties under the Act are strict — they must keep your assets separate from their own, avoid conflicts of interest, and maintain detailed records. But fiduciary duties are enforced after the fact, not before. Someone who's financially irresponsible or has a history of debt problems is a poor choice regardless of the legal safeguards.

Availability in Canberra. An attorney who lives in Sydney or Melbourne can technically manage ACT affairs, but the practical friction is significant. Registering an EPA for property transactions requires an in-person appointment at Access Canberra's Dickson office. Banks may want to sight the original document. Hospitals expect the health care attorney to be reachable within hours, not days.

Willingness to act against family pressure. The attorney's duty is to the principal, not to other family members. If three siblings disagree about whether to sell the family home to fund aged care, the appointed attorney must act in the principal's best interests — even if that means overriding their siblings' preferences. Someone who avoids conflict may not be suited to this role.

Age and health. If you're 65 and appoint your 70-year-old spouse as your sole attorney with no substitute, there's a meaningful chance they'll lose their own capacity before you do. Consider age gaps and health conditions when structuring your appointments.

Who Cannot Be Your Witness

This catches people at the signing stage. Neither witness to your EPA can be one of your appointed attorneys or substitute attorneys, or a child. Only one of the two witnesses can be a relative of you or any of your attorneys. At least one witness must be a prescribed witness under the Oaths and Affirmations Act 1984 — typically a Justice of the Peace, legal practitioner, or notary public.

If you're appointing a family member as attorney, make sure your witness pool doesn't overlap with the appointment structure. A common setup is one JP (non-family) and one trusted friend or neighbour.

Our Australian Capital Territory Power of Attorney Kit includes an attorney selection worksheet that helps you evaluate candidates across these criteria, plus the witnessing rules checklist to make sure signing day goes smoothly.

Get the ACT Power of Attorney Kit to structure your appointments correctly the first time.

See more Australian Capital Territory guides →