Alternatives to the Public Trustee for Managing Affairs in Western Australia

If you're looking for alternatives to the Public Trustee managing your family's affairs in Western Australia, the most effective option is setting up the right substitute decision-making documents before they're needed. An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) and Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG) let a trusted family member handle financial and personal decisions without Public Trustee involvement. If capacity is already lost, a private family member can apply to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) for appointment instead of the Public Trustee. Either path keeps decision-making within the family — but both require action before or shortly after a capacity event.

Why Families Want to Avoid the Public Trustee

The Public Trustee of Western Australia provides a necessary service for people with no family, no trusted contacts, or no one willing to take on the responsibility. But for families who do have someone capable and willing, there are real reasons to seek alternatives:

Effort-based fees. The Public Trustee charges fees based on the complexity and time involved in managing an estate. For ongoing financial administration, these fees can run into thousands of dollars per year — a meaningful drag on assets that are typically being used to fund aged care, medical expenses, or daily living costs.

Loss of family control. When the Public Trustee manages someone's affairs, financial decisions are made by an institutional administrator following standard procedures. The personal context that a family member brings — knowing that Mum would never want to sell the family home, or that Dad's investment priorities were always conservative — is absent from the process.

Bureaucratic pace. Institutional administration runs on business hours and processing timelines. When a family member acts as attorney, they can respond to an urgent bank issue at 8am, attend a property settlement on a Saturday, or make a time-sensitive aged-care placement decision over a weekend. The Public Trustee operates within business-hours constraints.

Annual reporting requirements. Private administrators appointed by the SAT are subject to annual Public Trustee audits of their financial management. This is a safeguard, not a burden per se — but it means a family member acting under a SAT-appointed administration order has ongoing compliance obligations that don't apply to an attorney acting under a voluntarily-executed EPA.

The Three Main Alternatives

Alternative 1: Set Up EPAs and EPGs Before Capacity Is Lost

This is the simplest, cheapest, and most comprehensive alternative. While the person still has legal capacity, they execute:

• An EPA appointing a trusted family member as financial attorney
• An EPG appointing someone to make personal and lifestyle decisions
• An AHD (Advance Health Directive) recording their medical treatment preferences

Once these are in place, the Public Trustee has no role unless the family specifically requests their involvement or no appointed attorney is available to act.

Cost: The government forms are free. Landgate registration (for property-related EPAs) is $225.10. A guided process kit like the Western Australia Power of Attorney Kit costs . Total out-of-pocket: under $300 in most cases.

Timeline: Landgate processing typically takes two to four weeks once the documents are ready for lodgement.

Limitation: Requires the donor to have capacity. Once capacity is lost, this option closes permanently.

Alternative 2: Apply for Private Administration Through the SAT

If capacity is already lost and no EPA or EPG exists, the Public Trustee isn't the only option. A family member can apply to the SAT for an Administration Order (financial decisions) or a Guardianship Order (personal decisions), requesting that they — not the Public Trustee — be appointed.

The SAT will appoint a family member if:

• The applicant demonstrates they're suitable and willing to act
• There's no evidence of conflict of interest or financial mismanagement risk
• Other family members don't object (or the SAT determines the objections are not well-founded)
• The proposed arrangement serves the represented person's best interests

Cost: The SAT does not charge application or hearing fees under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990. The costs are in the preparation: obtaining a required medical report from a registered medical practitioner, compiling a Service Provider Report, and potentially engaging a solicitor if the application is contested.

Timeline: Approximately eight weeks from application to hearing under the SAT's Practice Note 9 standard timeline. During this period, financial decision-making is effectively frozen unless the SAT grants interim orders.

Ongoing obligation: A privately-appointed administrator is subject to annual financial audits by the Public Trustee's office. This is less intrusive than full Public Trustee management, but it's not zero compliance.

Alternative 3: Informal Family Arrangement (Limited Scope)

For situations where the person has reduced but not lost capacity, and the decisions are small-scale, some families manage without formal legal instruments. A parent who can still sign cheques but needs help with bills might simply add a child as a signatory on a bank account, or grant limited transaction authority through the bank's own internal processes.

This is not a substitute for proper legal authority. Informal arrangements break down the moment a major decision arises — selling property, moving into residential aged care, dealing with insurance, or interacting with government agencies. They also provide no protection if the person's capacity declines further, and they create potential liability for the family member who's acting without formal authority.

Consider informal arrangements only as a short-term bridge while you're setting up the proper documents, not as a permanent alternative to the Public Trustee.

Who This Is For

• Families with an ageing parent who still has capacity — setting up an EPA and EPG now prevents any future Public Trustee involvement, costs under $300, and allows for Landgate's typical two-to-four-week processing time
• Families where capacity has recently been lost — the SAT application process is more complex and slower than voluntary document execution, but a private appointment is available and preferable to institutional administration for most families
• Adult children managing aged-care transitions — the EPA covers the financial side (selling the family home, funding residential care) while the EPG covers the personal side (choosing the facility, day-to-day care decisions) — without either, the Public Trustee may be asked to step in
• Families concerned about Public Trustee fees — for estates with property, investments, or ongoing income sources, the annual administration fees can significantly erode the assets being managed

Who This Is NOT For

• People with no family members willing or suitable to act as attorney or administrator — the Public Trustee exists specifically for this situation and provides essential protection
• Families with active disputes about who should manage a relative's affairs — the Public Trustee's institutional neutrality may be the safest option until disputes are resolved
• Situations involving suspected elder financial abuse — the Public Trustee and the Office of the Public Advocate provide safeguards that a private family arrangement cannot

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Public Trustee be removed once appointed?

Yes, but it requires a SAT application. A family member can apply to have a private administrator appointed in place of the Public Trustee. The SAT will consider whether the change serves the represented person's best interests, whether the proposed replacement is suitable, and whether there are any concerns about financial management or family conflict.

How much does the Public Trustee actually charge?

The Public Trustee's fees are effort-based and vary by estate complexity. For simple financial administration (paying bills, managing a bank account), annual fees might be modest. For estates involving property management, investment oversight, or complex asset structures, fees can run into several thousand dollars per year. Check the Public Trustee's current fee schedule for specific rates.

Is it too late to set up an EPA if my parent has early-stage dementia?

Not necessarily. Capacity is assessed at the moment of signing and is decision-specific. A person with early-stage cognitive decline may still have sufficient capacity to understand and execute an EPA and EPG. The critical step is getting a GP assessment documented before the signing — this contemporaneous medical evidence protects the document if capacity is later challenged. Don't wait to find out; the window narrows unpredictably.

What happens if a family member is appointed by the SAT but does a poor job?

The annual audit by the Public Trustee's office is designed to catch financial mismanagement. If problems are identified, a family member or interested party can apply to the SAT for a review of the administrator's conduct.

Can I be both the EPA attorney and the SAT-appointed administrator?

These are different legal instruments. If your parent executed an immediate EPA appointing you before losing capacity, that EPA governs and you don't need a separate SAT administration appointment. A dormant EPA still requires the SAT declaration that activates it. If no EPA exists, a SAT application may be needed. If an existing EPA is challenged or appears inadequate for the circumstances, seek legal advice about whether a SAT application is needed.

Does the Western Australia Power of Attorney Kit help with SAT applications?

The kit's primary focus is voluntary EPA and EPG execution — the documents you set up before capacity is lost. It includes a SAT Fallback Checklist that covers the application process, required documentation, and timeline expectations, but it's not a substitute for legal advice if the SAT application is contested. For uncontested family applications, the checklist provides a practical roadmap. Get the kit at bereavementstartguide.com/au/western-australia/power-of-attorney/.

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