An enduring power of attorney (EPA) is a legal document that lets you choose someone to make decisions for you if you lose the mental capacity to make them yourself.
New Zealand has two types: one for property and one for personal care and welfare. Both are governed by the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988.
Setting one up while you’re well gives you control over who acts for you later. Most people assume their spouse or next of kin can simply step in if something goes wrong, but that isn’t how the law works.
This guide explains how EPAs work, the choices you’ll face when setting one up, and why the timing matters more than most people realise.
How Does an Enduring Power of Attorney Work in New Zealand?
An enduring power of attorney works by letting you (the donor) appoint a trusted person (the attorney) to make decisions on your behalf, with that authority continuing even after you lose mental capacity.
The enduring part is what sets it apart from an ordinary power of attorney. A regular power of attorney ends the moment you lose capacity, which is exactly when help is needed most.
An EPA is built to keep working past that point, so your chosen person can keep acting for you. The whole framework sits under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, which Parliament passed to protect people who can no longer manage their own affairs.
The donor is the person giving the power, and the attorney is the person receiving it.
Your attorney doesn’t have to be a lawyer. In most cases, it’s a spouse, an adult child, a close friend, or a trustee corporation that you trust to act in your interests.
What’s the Difference Between an EPA and an Ordinary Power of Attorney?
The key difference is that an ordinary power of attorney stops working if you lose mental capacity, while an enduring power of attorney keeps working.
An ordinary power of attorney is useful for short-term, practical situations. People often use one when they travel overseas and need someone to sign documents or manage a bank account while they’re away.
The catch is that it has no legal effect once the person who gave it can no longer make decisions.
That’s a serious gap, because losing capacity is often the very situation where someone needs decisions made for them.
An EPA closes that gap by enduring through incapacity, which is why it has become the standard tool for planning ahead in New Zealand.
What Are the Two Types of Enduring Power of Attorney?
There are two types of EPA in New Zealand: one for property and one for personal care and welfare. You can set up one or both, and they can name the same person or different people.
A property EPA covers your money and assets. A personal care and welfare EPA covers decisions about your health, your living arrangements, and your day-to-day care.
The two documents work in different ways, so it helps to see them side by side before you decide what you need.
| Feature | Property EPA | Personal Care and Welfare EPA |
| What it covers | Money, bank accounts, investments, property and paying bills | Health, where you live, your care and most medical treatment |
| Number of attorneys | One or more people, or a trustee corporation | One person only |
| When it takes effect | As soon as it’s created, from a later date, or only on loss of capacity, as you choose | Only once a suitably qualified medical practitioner, or the Family Court, confirms lost capacity |
| Who can be appointed | An individual aged 20 or over, or a trustee corporation | An individual aged 20 or over, not a company |
| Main duty | Act in your best interests and keep proper records | Promote your welfare and best interests |
The table shows the biggest practical split: a property EPA is flexible about timing and numbers, while a personal care and welfare EPA is stricter.
Only one person can hold your personal care and welfare EPA at a time, and it can’t start until a suitably qualified practitioner confirms you’ve lost capacity.
What Can a Property Attorney Do?
A property attorney can manage your money and assets, including paying your bills, operating your bank accounts, managing investments, and buying or selling property.
You decide how wide their authority is. You can give a general power covering all your property, or limit it to specific things, such as one bank account or one task.
You can also choose when the power starts. A property EPA can take effect straight away while you still have capacity, from a later date you choose, or only if you lose capacity, which gives you flexibility depending on your needs.
This flexibility is one of the main reasons property EPAs are so useful for older New Zealanders and for anyone managing complex finances.
What Can a Personal Care and Welfare Attorney Do?
A personal care and welfare attorney can make decisions about your health, your care, and where you live, but for significant decisions only once a suitably qualified medical practitioner has certified, or the Family Court has decided, that you can’t make those decisions yourself.
This attorney advocates for your quality of life. They can choose your rest home, agree to your level of care, and make most decisions about your medical treatment.
The law sets clear limits on this role to protect you. A personal care and welfare attorney can’t make decisions about your marriage, civil union, or the adoption of your children.
They can’t refuse treatment meant to save your life or prevent serious harm to your health, and they must allow CPR if it’s needed.
They also can’t consent to brain surgery or electroconvulsive therapy aimed at changing your behaviour, or agree to you taking part in most medical experiments, as the New Zealand Law Society explains.
If you have firm views about end-of-life care, you’d record those separately in an advance directive, sometimes called a living will.
When Does an Enduring Power of Attorney Take Effect?
A property EPA can take effect as soon as it’s created, from a later date, or only if you lose capacity, while a personal care and welfare EPA can only take effect once a suitably qualified medical practitioner, or the Family Court, confirms you’ve lost mental capacity.
This is one of the most important choices you’ll make when setting up your documents.
With a property EPA, you choose whether your attorney can act while you’re still capable, from a set date, or only if you become incapable.
Many people choose the immediate option so a partner can help with everyday finances right away.
A personal care and welfare EPA is different. It can never start while you still have capacity, because the law presumes you can make your own care decisions until proven otherwise.
The trigger for significant decisions is a medical certificate of incapacity, which means a suitably qualified health practitioner has assessed you and confirmed you can’t make the relevant decisions, or the Family Court has decided this.
A significant decision is one with a major effect on your health or life, such as a permanent move into residential care or a major medical procedure.
For smaller, everyday matters, your attorney can act if they have reasonable grounds to believe you’ve lost capacity.
Who Can You Appoint as Your Attorney?
You can appoint almost any adult you trust as your attorney, provided they are an individual aged 20 or over who isn’t bankrupt and isn’t subject to a personal or property order under the Act.
For a property EPA, you can also appoint a trustee corporation, such as Public Trust or a private trustee company.
For a personal care and welfare EPA, the attorney must be an individual, so a company can’t take that role.
Choice of attorney is the single most important decision in the whole process. This person will hold real power over your money or your care, so trust matters more than anything else.
Pick someone reliable, willing to take on the responsibility, and likely to respect your wishes rather than their own preferences.
Can You Appoint More Than One Attorney?
You can appoint more than one attorney for your property EPA, but only one attorney at a time for your personal care and welfare EPA.
When you name two or more property attorneys, you have to say how they make decisions.
They can act jointly, meaning they must agree on everything together, or “severally,” meaning any one of them can act alone, or by majority.
Each option has trade-offs. Joint appointments add a safeguard because no single attorney can act without the others, but they can also cause delays or deadlock if your attorneys disagree.
You can also name a successor attorney, a back-up who steps in if your first attorney dies or can no longer act.
Naming a successor is wise, because without one a joint property EPA can come to an end if a single attorney drops out.
What Are Your Attorney’s Legal Duties?
Your attorney owes you fiduciary duties, which means they must act with honesty, good faith, and absolute loyalty to your interests at all times. It’s a position of real trust, and the law holds your attorney to a high standard because of it.
In practice, your attorney must act in your best interests, avoid any conflict between their interests and yours, and keep your property separate from their own.
A property attorney also has to keep proper records of the decisions and transactions they make for you.
Your attorney must consult you where that’s practical and encourage you to do what you still can for yourself.
These duties exist because the EPA hands over significant control, and the law treats any misuse of that power seriously.
How Do You Set Up an Enduring Power of Attorney?
You set up an EPA by completing the prescribed forms, getting independent legal advice, and signing the document in front of an authorised witness who explains what it means.
The forms are set by regulation, and there’s a separate form for each type of EPA. You can get them from a lawyer, a qualified legal executive, or a trustee corporation.
The witnessing rules are strict, and for good reason. Since changes that took effect on 25 September 2008, your witness has to be a lawyer, a qualified legal executive, or an authorised officer of a trustee corporation, and they generally have to be independent of your attorney.
Your witness must explain the effects and implications of the EPA to you and confirm that you understand them.
This step protects you from signing something you don’t fully grasp and helps guard against pressure from others.
Fees vary between providers and with the complexity of your situation, but setting up an EPA usually costs a few hundred dollars for each document.
That’s a small price next to the cost and stress your family would face if you lost capacity without one in place.
What Happens If You Don’t Have an EPA?
If you lose capacity without an EPA, your family can’t simply take over, and they’ll need to apply to the Family Court to be appointed to manage your affairs.
This is the part most people get wrong. Spouses, partners, and next of kin aren’t automatically entitled to step in and manage someone’s finances or care once that person is incapable.
No one over 18 can lawfully make those decisions for another adult without proper authority.
Without an EPA, the Court process involves applying for a property manager to handle finances and a welfare guardian to handle care.
The Court appoints an independent lawyer to look into the application, and the cost of that report can come out of your money.
The process can take several months, especially if the application isn’t urgent or is contested, which can hold up important decisions about your care or your bills.
Some care providers may require, or strongly prefer, EPAs or Court orders before they can act on admission or care decisions, so the gap can have real consequences.
A Court-appointed property manager also has to report to the Court every year, which an attorney under an EPA does not.
In short, an EPA is faster, cheaper, and keeps the choice of who acts for you in your hands rather than the Court’s.
Can You Change or Cancel an Enduring Power of Attorney?
Yes, you can change, suspend, or cancel your EPA at any time while you still have mental capacity, by giving written notice to your attorney.
You’re in control for as long as you’re capable. You can revoke the EPA entirely, replace your attorney, or suspend the arrangement for a period.
There’s one timing point that catches people out. Until your attorney actually receives notice of the cancellation or suspension, they can keep acting for you, so it’s important to deliver that notice properly.
The Family Court also has powers here. It can review an attorney’s decisions, and it can cancel an EPA if it decides the attorney isn’t acting in your best interests or isn’t fit for the role.
The Court can also appoint a property manager or welfare guardian whose authority takes priority over your attorney.
It’s free to ask the Family Court to look into an EPA, which gives families a route to raise concerns if something seems wrong.
How Is the Law on Enduring Powers of Attorney Changing?
The law is under active review, and on 24 February 2026, the Law Commission recommended replacing the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 with an entirely new Act. This is the biggest proposed shake-up of this area in decades.
The Commission made 175 recommendations aimed at better respecting the wishes and autonomy of people with affected decision making, and at aligning New Zealand law with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Several proposals would directly affect EPAs.
The Commission recommended a voluntary register where people could record the existence and location of their EPAs, a new role of “formal supporter” to help people make their own decisions, and stronger oversight, including a complaints mechanism.
You can read the full announcement from the Law Commission. These are recommendations, not law, so nothing has changed yet. The Government will decide whether to act on them.
For now, the 1988 Act and its current forms still apply, and an EPA you set up today remains valid and useful.
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Set Up an EPA
The strongest reason to act now is simple: you can only create an EPA while you still have mental capacity, so once it’s lost, it’s too late.
Capacity can disappear suddenly through a stroke, an accident, or a serious illness, not just gradually with age.
New Zealand’s population is also ageing quickly. Stats NZ projects that the number of people aged 65 and over will reach 1 million by 2028, with that group rising from about 1 in 6 of the population to 1 in 5.
The likelihood of conditions that affect capacity rises with age. Dementia cases alone are projected to more than double, reaching almost 170,000 by 2050.
None of this means an EPA is only for older people. Anyone over 18 can have an accident or fall seriously ill, and an EPA is a safeguard for adults at any age.
Many people set up their EPAs at the same time as making their will, which keeps the cost down and gets the whole plan sorted in one go.
The peace of mind of knowing a trusted person can step in, without your family facing a Court process, is worth far more than the modest cost of getting it done.
Need Help Setting Up an Enduring Power of Attorney?
An enduring power of attorney is one of the most practical ways to protect yourself and your family, but the choices around attorneys, timing, and conditions need to be right to do what you intend.
As enduring power of attorney lawyers in New Zealand, Evolution Lawyers can help you set up both types of EPA, advise on who to appoint, and make sure your documents are valid and tailored to your situation.
Contact our team today to discuss putting your enduring powers of attorney in place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a property EPA and a personal care and welfare EPA?
A property EPA covers your money and assets, and can start when created, from a later date, or on loss of capacity. A personal care and welfare EPA covers your health, care, and where you live, and can only start once a suitably qualified practitioner certifies you’ve lost capacity. You can set up one or both.
Can my spouse make decisions for me if I lose capacity without an EPA?
No. Your spouse or next of kin can’t automatically manage your finances or care if you lose capacity without an EPA in place. They would have to apply to the Family Court to be appointed as your property manager or welfare guardian, a process that usually takes several months and adds cost and stress at a difficult time.
Who can I appoint as my attorney in New Zealand?
You can appoint any adult you trust who is aged 20 or over, isn’t bankrupt, and isn’t subject to a personal or property order. For a property EPA you can also appoint a trustee corporation. For a personal care and welfare EPA the attorney must be an individual, so a company can’t take that role.
When does an enduring power of attorney take effect?
A property EPA can take effect as soon as it’s created, from a later date, or only if you lose capacity, depending on what you choose. A personal care and welfare EPA can only take effect once a suitably qualified medical practitioner, or the Family Court, confirms you’ve lost mental capacity. Until then, the attorney can’t act on significant matters.
Can I cancel or change my enduring power of attorney?
Yes. You can change, suspend, or cancel your EPA at any time while you still have mental capacity by giving written notice to your attorney. The cancellation only takes effect once your attorney receives that notice, so it must be delivered properly. The Family Court can also cancel an EPA if an attorney isn’t acting in your best interests.
How much does it cost to set up an EPA?
Fees vary between providers and depend on how complex your situation is, but setting up an EPA usually costs a few hundred dollars for each document. Many people reduce the cost by arranging their EPAs at the same time as their will. The cost is small compared with the legal, reporting, and delay costs your family may face without one.