Are there no limits** to an Attorney’s Powers?

Previous View posts have looked at various aspects of powers of attorney..

A validly appointed financial attorney has extremely wide powers in relation to what they may do on behalf of the donor.

One question regularly raised concerns the limitations imposed on attorneys.

While the rules in each state are slightly different, generally speaking, an attorney is prohibited from doing any of the following on behalf of a donor:

1. acting as a director in place of the donor – a directorship is a personal role and cannot be delegated;
2. voting in government elections;
3. signing affidavits in relation to information that is known only to the donor;
4. marrying or divorcing a spouse;
5. making a will on behalf of the donor; and
6. entering into transactions where the donor’s interests conflict with the attorney's, unless the document appointing the attorney waives potential conflicts of interests.

While most of the prohibitions on attorney conduct are clear, there remains some confusion about the ability of an attorney to implement or change a binding death benefit nomination for the donor’s superannuation entitlements.

Some of the key issues in this regard have also been explored in other View posts.

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** For the trainspotters, ‘no limits’ is a line from the Bjork song from 2007, namely ‘Hope’ listen hear (sic):