Power of Attorney for Ageing Parent in WA

The Window Closes Faster Than You Think

Your parent can only sign an Enduring Power of Attorney while they still have full legal capacity. Once capacity has been lost, the document route closes. The alternative for financial or personal decision-making authority is an application to the State Administrative Tribunal — the standard timeline is approximately eight weeks, during which those decisions may be effectively frozen.

If your parent has received an early dementia diagnosis, is being assessed for residential aged care, or has recently had a fall serious enough to raise questions about independent living, the time to act is now.

What "Capacity" Actually Means for Signing

Under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA), your parent needs to understand three things at the moment they sign:

• What powers they're handing over (financial management, property transactions, bill payments)
• Who they're appointing as their attorney
• That the power continues even if they later lose the ability to make decisions themselves

A dementia diagnosis alone doesn't automatically disqualify someone. Early-stage Alzheimer's, mild cognitive impairment, and many vascular conditions leave the person with enough understanding to execute a valid EPA. The critical factor is their comprehension at the exact moment of signing — not their prognosis.

If there's any doubt, arrange for the signing ceremony to take place at your parent's GP surgery. Having the doctor witness the signing and note "capacity confirmed" in the medical record creates strong evidence if the EPA is challenged later. The GP can serve as one of the two required witnesses, and their professional standing satisfies the authorized witness requirement under Schedule 2 of the Oaths, Affidavits and Statutory Declarations Act 2005 (WA).

Two Documents, Not One

Western Australia splits decision-making across two separate instruments — a trap for families who assume a single power of attorney covers everything:

Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) handles finances: bank accounts, paying bills, managing investments, selling property, and funding aged-care bonds. You choose whether it takes effect immediately or lies dormant until the SAT formally declares incapacity.

Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG) covers personal and lifestyle decisions: where your parent lives, what support services they receive, and non-urgent medical choices. An EPG only activates when capacity is lost — there's no "immediate" option.

For an ageing parent entering residential aged care, you typically need both. The EPA lets you manage the financial side (Refundable Accommodation Deposits, daily fees, pension redirections), while the EPG ensures you can make decisions about their living arrangements and day-to-day care if they lose the ability to communicate those preferences themselves.

The Aged Care Admission Sequence

Aged-care providers in WA routinely ask for a copy of the EPA before finalising admission. Here's why the timing matters:

1. Before the aged-care assessment — Arrange the EPA and EPG while your parent can still participate in the signing ceremony
2. At facility selection — Present the registered EPA to the facility's finance team along with your parent's pension and asset details
3. RAD negotiation — If your parent owns property and needs to sell it to fund a Refundable Accommodation Deposit, the EPA must be registered at Landgate (fee: $225.10) before you can sign any contract of sale as attorney
4. Ongoing management — The EPA lets you redirect Centrelink payments, manage bank accounts, and pay daily accommodation fees without your parent's signature on each transaction

Without an EPA, the aged-care provider may refuse admission until a family member obtains an SAT administration order — and that eight-week wait can mean losing the placement entirely.

Hospital Decisions: Where the EPG Takes Over

When your parent is admitted to hospital and can't communicate treatment preferences, the EPG-appointed guardian makes lifestyle and non-urgent medical decisions. But Western Australia has a strict hierarchy for urgent medical consent that operates independently:

1. An Advance Health Directive (AHD) overrides everyone — if your parent has one, its treatment instructions are legally binding
2. The EPG-appointed guardian makes non-urgent healthcare decisions
3. If no EPG exists, the "person responsible" hierarchy applies: spouse or qualifying de facto partner first (generally a marriage-like relationship for at least two years), then adult children, then parents, then siblings

For hospital admissions, having both the EPG and an AHD gives the clearest authority. Carry certified copies of both documents in a folder you can hand to the admissions desk so the hospital can verify the relevant authority and instructions.

Common Mistakes That Waste Time and Money

Lodging only one original EPA at Landgate. If you need to register the EPA for property dealings, Landgate requires two originally signed copies. They permanently archive one. If you submit only one, they keep it, and you're left without an original for banks — you'll need to purchase a certified copy from the registry at $113.90.

Missing the three-month window. Landgate expects EPAs to be registered within three months of execution. After that, you'll need a Statutory Declaration of Non-Revocation confirming the donor is alive and the power hasn't been varied, including the date and manner of last communication within the preceding seven days.

Assuming the bank will accept it immediately. WA banks frequently push back on self-prepared EPAs. Branch staff may demand the bank's own proprietary forms, question documents older than three years, or insist on a fresh medical certificate. Before your parent's next GP visit, call the bank's estate or legal team directly (not the branch) to ask exactly what they need. A pre-emptive approach prevents frozen accounts at the worst possible time.

What If Your Parent Has Already Lost Capacity

If the window has closed, you cannot create an EPA or EPG retroactively. The only path is an application to the State Administrative Tribunal:

• Cost: $0 filing fee — the SAT doesn't charge for guardianship and administration matters
• Timeline: Approximately eight weeks from application to hearing under Practice Note 9
• What you need: A Cognitive Capacity Medical Report from a registered practitioner, plus a Service Provider Report outlining care needs
• Urgent cases: Request an Interim Order through the eCourts Portal — the SAT can issue emergency orders within 24–48 hours, valid for up to three months

The SAT application route works, but it's slower, more invasive, and puts your family's situation before a public tribunal. Every week of preventative planning you do now is a week your family doesn't spend navigating that process later.

Getting Both Documents Done Properly

The Western Australia Power of Attorney Kit walks through both the EPA and EPG process step by step — from the capacity conversation with your parent's GP through to Landgate registration, bank acceptance, and aged-care admission. It includes the signing-day execution checklist, a bank acceptance playbook for when branches push back, and a capacity assessment worksheet to bring to the GP appointment.

The official EPA and EPG forms are free from the Office of the Public Advocate. What they don't include is the practical layer — how to get the bank to actually honour the document, how to handle Landgate's name-matching requirements, and what to do when the aged-care provider's finance team asks questions your parent can no longer answer. That's where the kit fills the gap.

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