Power of Attorney Cost South Australia

The Free Government Forms

The official Form P2 (Enduring Power of Attorney) is available as a free download from the Land Services SA website. The Advance Care Directive form — which covers medical and personal decisions and works alongside the EPA — is free from the SA Health website or any Service SA centre. There are no government charges for the forms themselves.

Witnessing is also free if you use a Justice of the Peace. JPs at Service SA centres, local courts, and public libraries provide witnessing services at no cost.

So the base cost of setting up a valid EPA in South Australia is genuinely $0 if you don't need to register it with Land Services SA and you use a free JP for witnessing.

The Land Services SA Registration Fee

If your attorney will deal with real property — selling a home, transferring land, lodging a caveat — the EPA must be deposited with Land Services SA under section 156(3) of the Real Property Act 1886. The current registration fee is $204 per donor.

This is the only mandatory government fee in the process, and it only applies if the EPA will be used for property transactions. If the EPA is limited to bank accounts, investments, and non-property financial matters, registration isn't legally required (though many families register anyway for the verification benefits).

Revoking a registered EPA later costs another $204 for lodging the revocation form (Form RP).

What Solicitors Charge

Private law firms in Adelaide typically charge:

• Single EPA only: $165 to $495
• EPA plus ACD: $300 to $700
• Complete package (Will + EPA + ACD): $1,100 to $1,430+

These figures are from SA-based firms' published fee schedules. Complex estates — trusts, business interests, interstate property — push costs higher because the solicitor spends more time on custom drafting.

What you get for the solicitor's fee: the lawyer completes the form for you, advises on conditions and limitations, witnesses the signing, and provides their own certification of the document. Some firms also offer to register the EPA with Land Services SA as part of their service.

The Public Trustee Option

The Public Trustee of South Australia will prepare an EPA (or Will) for free — but only for concession card holders, and only if you appoint the Public Trustee as your attorney (or executor). This is a genuine free service for eligible people, but it comes with a significant trade-off: the Public Trustee charges statutory commissions on the assets they manage.

For administration under a SACAT order, the capital commission is 4.4% on the first $200,000 of assets, reducing to 3.3% on the next $200,000, then 2.2% and 1.1% for higher bands. There are additional hourly fees for property attendance ($214/hour), tax returns ($286/hour), and annual administration fees ($211).

For most families, appointing a family member as attorney under a self-completed EPA avoids these ongoing commissions entirely.

DIY vs Solicitor: When Each Makes Sense

DIY is right when:

• The donor's estate is straightforward — bank accounts, superannuation, a family home
• You don't need complex conditions or limitations on the attorney's powers
• You're comfortable following written instructions to complete the form correctly
• There's no family dispute about who should be appointed

A solicitor is worth the cost when:

• The donor has business interests, trust structures, or property in multiple states
• You need custom clauses — specific restrictions on property sales, investment strategies, or gifting
• There's any question about the donor's capacity (a solicitor's capacity assessment provides stronger legal protection)
• Family members disagree about the appointment, and you want independent professional involvement to reduce the risk of a later challenge

The Real Cost of Not Having One

The comparison that matters isn't $0 DIY vs $400 solicitor. It's the cost of having an EPA versus the cost of not having one when you need it.

Without an EPA, if the donor loses capacity:

• SACAT application: free to lodge, but the 4 to 6 week wait while bank accounts are frozen means bills, mortgage payments, and care fees go unpaid
• Legal representation at SACAT: if the matter is contested, expect $2,000 to $5,000+ in legal fees
• Public Trustee appointment: capital commissions of up to 4.4% on assets, plus ongoing administration fees — under the reducing commission schedule, a $500,000 estate incurs $17,600 in capital commission alone
• Family stress and delay: weeks of uncertainty, out-of-pocket expenses, and potential loss of control over the donor's care decisions

Against those figures, even the higher end of solicitor fees for preparing an EPA looks like a small investment.

Cost Summary Table

The South Australia Power of Attorney Kit bridges the gap between free government forms and expensive solicitor services — step-by-step Form P2 completion with conditions templates, witnessing protocol, bank acceptance strategy, and Land Services registration walkthrough.

See more South Australia guides →