Avoid excessive court costs: make durable powers of attorney

Losing your mental capacity can be a costly exercise if you don’t have your house in order. It can also be a stressful time for family and loved ones who are already trying to cope with their often sudden loss of mental capacity.

If you have not taken the practical step of completing a durable power of attorney, no one will be in a position to make decisions related to your personal care and well-being and your real and personal property will be immobilized until such time as you briefly designate someone to manage your affairs. . The process is administered by the Family Court, which in New Zealand is part of the District Court.

Obtaining court orders can be time consuming, especially if family and loved ones disagree on who should apply for the appointment. Also, regardless of whether the process is relatively straightforward or not, it will take several months and cost many thousands of dollars.

To ensure that the best interests of the person in question are met, the court appoints an “attorney for the person in question” chosen from a panel of attorneys experienced in these matters. That person is paid out of a consolidated fund. Their role is to interview the person in question as well as those seeking to be appointed as a welfare guardian and property manager to satisfy the court that the appointments are in the best interest of the person in question.

Eventually, after a hearing is obtained and all affected parties have an opportunity to be heard, the court will issue the orders in time. You can expect this to cost between $ 3,000 and $ 5,000. While applicants are technically responsible for the legal fees related to the application, it is common for an order to be requested for the fees to be paid from the assets of the person in question.

Probably the worst part is that the initial court order lasts for two years and then applicants have to do it all over and over again at three-year intervals, incurring the same cost each time, usually at their own expense. It only stops when you regain mental capacity, which doesn’t happen that often, or when you die.

The real insanity in all of this is that all the unnecessary exercise could have been avoided if only you had the foresight to put in a durable power of attorney while you had the chance. The likely legal fees would have been a fraction of what the court process cost and you would have made the decision yourself. Those you love would also have saved a tremendous amount of stress. What makes it even worse is that there are even viable options available online where you could have done it yourself and saved even more money than consulting an attorney.

So if you don’t have durable powers of attorney, do yourself a favor and do something about it now while you can and before it’s too late.