For full definitions and more information see:
Take Control: A guide for making enduring powers of attorney.
Administrator: A person appointed by the Guardianship List to make financial and legal decisions on behalf of someone with a disability who is unable to make those decisions for themselves.
Appointor: The person giving decision-making power to another person through an enduring power of guardianship.
Attorney: A person appointed by you to make financial, legal or medical decisions on your behalf.
Bankruptcy: When the financial affairs of an individual are taken over by a bankruptcy trustee, following the individual becoming unable to pay his or her debts.
Capacity/legal capacity: An ability to understand the main consequences of a decision, to take responsibility for making a choice and to make a choice based on the risks and benefits that are important.
Enduring power: A power of attorney or guardianship which continues to have effect even if the donor ceases to be mentally competent.
Guardian: A person appointed either by you or by the Guardianship List to make personal lifestyle decisions, such as decisions about where you live, on your behalf. A guardian only makes decisions for someone who, through disability, is unable to make those decisions themselves.
Guardianship List: A division of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal that has the power to appoint administrators and guardians, and to revoke powers of attorney and powers of guardianship.
Invalid: Not valid, without legal effect.
Mentally incapacitated: An inability to understand and give legal consent to an action or arrangement.
Revocation: Cancelling a power of attorney or a power of guardianship.
Statutory declaration: A document in which a person makes a statement and acknowledges that it is made in the belief that, if the statement is false, the person is liable to penalties for perjury. The statement is witnessed by a person authorised to do so under section 107 of the Evidence Act 1958. Authorised people include justices of the peace, barristers and solicitors, police, members of parliament, local councillors, doctors, dentists, veterinary surgeons, pharmacists, school principals, chartered accountants and ministers of religion.
Witness: A person who is present when someone signs a document who confirms that the signature is genuine by adding their own signature.
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