QLD Access to Legal Documents That Include My Name?

[Rod]

I agree with Rob. A person cannot make a unilateral decision and expect it to be binding unless the terms of a previous agreed document make provision for the decision.

 

[miamia65]

That sort of clause is improper for a Power of Attorney, and it's probably not appropriate to put it in a will either (although this may depend on how it's treated). The appointment as attorney has no effect unless accepted by the attorney in signing part 3. I wouldn't be agreeing to sign anything of the sort until the matter is resolved satisfactorily.

It appears possible she is trying to use the Power of Attorney as some sort of acknowledgment of debt - which it is definitely not.

Thank you very much, appreciate your answers. My husband will not be signing the EPOA.

I know wonder whether the law firm advised her to withhold parts 1 and 2 of the EPOA hoping that my husband would just sign it. It wasn’t until he asked for it that she stated that “there’s some legal stuff in there” and said I only gave you those pages because it would be too much information for you.

Can my husband ask her to remove the clause? How should we proceed from here?

 

[Rod]

Tell her she needs a properly constructed EPOA and that your husband needs to read and understand the whole document before he signs.

 

[miamia65]

I agree with Rob. A person cannot make a unilateral decision and expect it to be binding unless the terms of a previous agreed document make provision for the decision.

Thank you that is what we thought as well.

 

[miamia65]

To add to this, she only gave my husband part 3 and asked my husband to copy part 3 only and post it for her to the 2 other attorneys being his sister and his mother’s cousin.

It wasn’t until I saw what he had when I got home from work that I said to him you can’t sign that and you need the full EPOA and when he went to pick it up from her she immediately asked him if he had signed it. He scanned the full document so that it could be emailed to the other attorneys.

If he refuses to sign and she decides to remove him as an attorney in a revised version, wouldn’t it be unethical to leave the clause in the new version? Should he retain his attorney rights in a revised EPOA?

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

It’s improper for the clause to be in any version. An EPOA is a relationship of paramount trust between the donor and attorney. I would not accept an appointment from anyone who is trying to conceal any document from me
- let alone the appointment document itself.

Being an attorney is not a right. If anything it’s a ‘burden” in the nicest possible way. There’s no direct benefit to the attorney in the relationship.