The PPPR act (Parliamentary Counsel Office, 1988) outlines the requirements for nominating an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) or a court order for those deemed incapable and do not have an EPOA in place.

EPOA

If meeting the threshold for the presumption of competence (section 93B(1)), an attorney can be nominated by an individual to act on their behalf should they lose the capacity to do so.

Welfare guardian

If the individual is deemed to lack the capacity to make personal care/welfare and/or property decisions and does not have an existing EPOA in place, an application can be made to the family court to decide on “the least restrictive intervention…having regard to the degree of that person’s incapacity” (Section 8). The court can make a range of orders including:

• An order appointing a welfare guardian and/or property manager (the equivalent of an EPOA),
• an order that the person be provided with living arrangements of a kind specified in the order and be required to reside there,
• an order that the person be provided with medical advice or treatment of a kind specified in the order.

 References:

Parliamentary Counsel Office. (1988). Protection of Person and Property Rights Act 1988. New Zealand Legislation website. Available from: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1988/0004/latest/whole.html.