Medical
Who Can Witness Your Documents
A question we get asked a lot is ‘who can witness my estate planning documents?’ In this post we aim to outline in clear terms who can witness your documents. Wills For your Will to be valid, it needs to be signed in front of two (2) witnesses. These witnesses need to be over … Read more
Electronic Witnessing of Wills and Powers of Attorney
Last year was a difficult year for Wills & Estates lawyers. When COVID-19 hit, lawyers had to work from home and could no longer have face-to-face meetings with their clients. A big problem quickly arose, how could our clients sign their Wills in front of two witnesses when they were unable to leave their homes … Read more
Voluntary Assisted Dying – Euthanasia in Victoria
In 2017, the Victorian government introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 (Vic), which will come into effect in 2019. The purpose of this bill is to regulate and facilitate the process by which Victorians could be permitted to make informed decisions regarding their own end of life choices. ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying’ (VAD) means ‘the … Read more
Advance Care Directives – Part 3 – Values Directives
A Values Directive is a statement of your values and preferences for your medical treatment. Some questions you might like to consider in determining your values include: What matters most in your life? For example: Do you want to live as long as possible, whatever it takes? Or is quality of life more important to … Read more
Advance Care Directive – Part 2 – Instructional Directives
An Instructional Directive should only be completed if you know exactly what you want, or don’t want, in the future in respect to medical treatment. An Instructional Directive is a statement of your medical treatment decision and takes effect as if you had consented to, or refused, the medical treatment. The instructional directive will include … Read more
Advance Care Directive – Part 1
We often mention Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker documents in our Estate Planning discussions. The Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker (AMTDM) is the document under which you can appoint a person to make medical decisions on your behalf when you no longer have the capacity to make those decisions on your own. An … Read more