All right. Picture this. You're in a car accident. You're unconscious. The doctors need to make critical decisions about whether your medical treatment, sorry, no, that's wrong. All right, that's going too quick. Slow that down. Okay. No, fuck. Go away. Picture this, you're in a car accident and you're unconscious. The doctors need to make critical decisions about your medical treatment, whether to operate, what medications to give you, or worst case, whether to even turn off your life support. Who makes these decisions? Spouse, kids, parents, the next door neighbor? Here's the terrifying truth. Without an enduring guardian, it might be no one you would usually choose. Or worse, it could end up being decided by a tribunal while your family fights it out in court. I'm Stacey M, and today we're talking about something that could be the difference between your wishes being honoured by your family or being torn apart when you need them most. So, what is an enduring guardian? Let's break it down in plain English. An enduring guardian is someone you appoint while you're still capable to make personal and lifestyle decisions for you if you lose capacity to make them for yourself. And I'm not just talking about medical decisions though, it is a big one. I'm also talking about medical treatment decisions, surgeries, medications, end of life, where you live, staying at home, moving to aged care, living with family, what services you receive, home care, nursing support, therapy, who you might have contact with. So this could be massive in huge conflict situations. And now here's what most people get confused about. Enduring guardian is not the same as a pair of attorney. Enduring guardian equals personal health decisions. Pair of attorney is financial and legal decisions, but you need both. They work together, but overall, they completely cover different areas of your life. In New South Wales, if you're appointed enduring guardian under the, sorry, So in New South Wales, you appoint an Enduring Guardian under the Guardianship Act. You must be over the age of eighteen and have capacity when you make this appointment. And here's the key, your owner comes into effect if you lose capacity, if you choose. So let me tell you what happens when you don't have an Enduring Guardian. I have literally seen families destroyed by this, totally torn apart. So here's a scenario one. Mum has a stroke. She can't communicate. Her partner thinks she'd want to stay at home with full-time care. Her adult daughter thinks she needs to be in a nursing home for safety. Her son doesn't agree with either. Without an enduring guardian, they end up at the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal, NCAB. The tribunal appoints a guardian It can take months. Legal costs pile up. The mum stops speaking and mum's wishes. Nobody actually knows what they were. Scenario two. You're a strange family member. The one you haven't spoken to in years becomes your guardian by default because they're your next of kin. They make decisions you would never agree with. Third scenario, you need urgent medical treatment. There's no one legally authorised to consent. Doctors have to go through lengthy processes. Treatment is delayed. Outcomes are worse. So here's the thing. We all think that it won't happen to me. But capacity loss doesn't just happen to elderly people. It happens after accidents, strokes, sudden illness, mental health crises and dementia. And Enduring Garden is your voice when you can't speak. It's your protection, and it's your peace of mind. Now, these documents are also state-based. So what I'm describing is New South Wales. But if you're not from New South Wales, don't switch off. Every Australian state and territory has a version of this, but it might be called different things. So Victoria, it might be called medical treatment decision. Queensland might be an enduring power of attorney for personal and health matters. South Australian, similar to New South Wales. WA is enduring power of guardianship. Tasmania is similar to New South Wales. ACT is enduring power of attorney, brackets health. The NT is an advanced personal plan. So the names are different, but the concept is very similar. You still choose who makes personal and medical decisions if you can't. The laws do vary from state to state, so you need to make sure that your documents comply with your state's legislation. Don't assume a document from one state automatically works in another because sometimes it doesn't. So how do you actually do this? Step one, choose your guardian carefully and choose a couple as a backup. Your guardian should be someone who knows your wishes and your values and you completely trust them. They're willing to take on the responsibility. They will advocate for you when it's hard. You can appoint more than one, as I said, and you can specify whether they act jointly or separately. second step have that conversation don't just appoint someone and surprise them later talk to them tell them what matters to you discuss your values your own medical treatment quality of life where you'd want to live step three make it official in new south wales you need to complete the appointment of enduring guardian form you must be witnessed by a prescribed witness which is usually a lawyer or registrar so you can't do this on your own step four Store it safely and tell people where it is. Give a copy to your guardian, your doctor, your lawyer, who should have it anyway. Keep the original somewhere safe. Register it in your state if it has a registry. Not all do though. Review it regularly. Life changes, relationships change. Review your enduring garden appointment every four years or after some major life-changing events. Here's what I want you to do today. We're coming up to Christmas and if you don't have an enduring guardian, please put it on your to-do list. Not someday, but please put it on your to-do list this week. If you do have one, when was the last time you reviewed it? Is that person still the right choice? Have you had the conversation about your wishes? This isn't morbid. This isn't being pessimistic. This is one of the most loving things that you can do for yourself and your family. You are taking control. You're protecting your autonomy. You're preventing conflict and confusion at the worst possible time. If you're going through this separation or divorce, it's even more critical that you review and update your documents immediately. If you need help navigating this, whether it's understanding options, having the difficult conversations or getting your affairs in order, especially during a separation, that's exactly what my team and I can help you with. Check out my program, the Empowered Separation Program, on my website. The links are floating around depending on where you're listening or watching to this. And please make sure that you're protected. Until next time, I'm Stacey M reminding you, you don't have to survive, you can thrive. Now, please take care of yourself. I have plenty of horror stories in relation to this topic. And unfortunately, they are, fortunately, they're few and far between. But when this stuff happens out of the blue, I suppose, or people assume that they're going to outlive somebody or they don't need this document because they're young and healthy, that's usually when it goes bad. I really would love to normalize talking about death and these types of things. So please don't assume that you are immune from needing this document in the future. Unfortunately, illness is not biased towards any way, accidents, you know, you name it. So please make sure you have these documents. But if my team and I can help you, please do reach out. Sorry, this was a bit of a bummer of an exercise episode, but I have spoken about power of attorney during guardianships and wills before because, as I said, I do want to normalise this and make sure that you are protected because, again, I'm positive you would much rather you appoint someone to make your decisions instead of a tribunal. So enjoy the rest of your day and you know where to find us if you need us. Take care, guys. See you next week.
