Store Power of Attorney NSW: Safe Custody and WillSafe Options

You have signed your enduring power of attorney in front of a prescribed witness, your attorney has signed the acceptance, and the document is now legally active. Where you keep it next determines whether anyone can actually use it when the time comes.

A power of attorney that cannot be located when your attorney needs it is functionally the same as not having one at all. And in NSW, banks and the Land Registry require the original document or a certified copy — not a photograph, not a scan emailed from interstate.

WillSafe: The NSW Trustee & Guardian Storage Service

The NSW Trustee & Guardian operates WillSafe, a purpose-built document storage service at their Sydney offices. WillSafe accepts enduring powers of attorney, appointments of enduring guardian, wills, and advance care directives.

Current fees are $29 for a single document and $49 for up to three documents. If you appoint the NSW Trustee & Guardian as your attorney or guardian, storage is free.

WillSafe maintains the original in a secure vault. Your nominated contacts can retrieve the document when it is needed, though retrieval requires identification and a formal request. The advantage is institutional continuity — WillSafe does not move house, forget where things are, or lose documents in a flood. The drawback is that access requires dealing with a government agency, which means business hours, processing time, and paperwork.

WillSafe is a reasonable option if your primary concern is the physical security of the original document and you are comfortable with the retrieval process. It is less ideal if your attorney might need the document urgently outside business hours.

Solicitor Safe Custody

Many NSW solicitors offer to store original documents in their office safe or secure storage facility, often for free if the solicitor drafted the document, or for a modest annual fee otherwise. The solicitor's practice retains a record of the document's existence, and your attorney can request retrieval.

The risk is practice closure. When a solicitor retires or a firm dissolves, stored documents are supposed to transfer to the Law Society of NSW's document management service. In practice, clients are not always notified promptly, and locating a document held by a now-defunct firm can take considerable time.

If you use solicitor custody, keep the solicitor's name and the Law Society of NSW contact number (02 9926 0300) with your attorney so they know where to look and who to call if the firm has changed.

Home Storage

Keeping the original at home — in a fireproof safe, a locked filing cabinet, or a dedicated document folder — is what most people default to. It gives immediate access and avoids retrieval delays.

The risks are fire, flood, misplacement, and the common problem of nobody else knowing where it is. If you are the one who loses capacity, and you are also the only one who knows the document is in the bottom drawer of the study desk, your attorney may never find it.

If you store at home, tell your attorney exactly where the document is. Write it down separately. Include it in the instructions you leave with your will.

Bank Safe Deposit Box

A bank safe deposit box is physically secure, but it creates a circular problem. If you lose capacity, your attorney needs the EPOA to access your bank. If the EPOA is inside the safe deposit box, they need bank access to get the EPOA. Some banks allow a nominated person to access the box in specific circumstances, but this is not universal and the process varies by institution.

Unless the safe deposit box has a separate nominated accessor who is also your attorney, this is one of the worst storage locations for a power of attorney.

What to Distribute Now

Regardless of where you store the original, your attorneys, your GP, your enduring guardian, and any specialists you see regularly should each have a certified copy. Certified copies can be made by a Justice of the Peace, a solicitor, or a pharmacist.

Having copies distributed means your attorney can begin conversations with banks and institutions immediately using the certified copy, even while the original is being retrieved. Most banks will accept a certified copy for their initial registration process, though some will eventually request sight of the original.

If your EPOA covers real property, you should also register the original with NSW Land Registry Services ($182.71) before any property transaction is needed. Once registered, the LRS holds a record of the document, and your attorney can deal with property without producing the physical original each time.

The Distribution Log

Keep a written record of who holds the original and who has copies. Update it if you revoke and replace the document. Let your attorney and your executor know where this log is. It sounds administrative, but when a family member is suddenly in intensive care and three relatives are scrambling to figure out whether a power of attorney exists and where it might be, a simple list saves days of confusion.

The New South Wales Power of Attorney Kit includes a document distribution log template and a signing-day execution checklist that covers certified copy distribution as part of the signing process.

See more New South Wales guides →