Office for Seniors - Web Capture - Creating an EPA
Office for Seniors
Official guidance
Official primary
2026-10-08
Next review: 2027-01-08
New Zealand
High confidence
published
Codex research — primary source check
Evidence boundary: Undated guidance; source last modified 24 July 2025, independently checked on 8 October 2026. The guide simplifies the law and directs readers to the legislation where wording conflicts.
Short Answer
Office for Seniors guidance on selecting attorneys, preparing the two EPA forms and arranging a qualified witness, with links to the standard forms.
Why it matters
Choose who should act, record your wishes and reporting safeguards, download the correct forms, and arrange an appointment with a qualified witness.
Key Points
- •Property EPAs cover finances and may operate before loss of capacity; more than one property attorney can be appointed.
- •Personal care and welfare EPAs cover health and living arrangements and allow only one attorney.
- •Attorneys must be at least 20, not bankrupt and not subject to a relevant personal or property order.
- •The donor’s witness must be a lawyer, qualified legal executive or trustee corporation representative.
- •The guide links standard property and personal care forms and recommends consultation, reporting and financial record safeguards.
Full Summary & Notes
Office for Seniors guidance on selecting attorneys, preparing the two EPA forms and arranging a qualified witness, with links to the standard forms.
Read bundled source notes
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Document Details & Metadata
Related Resources
Law Society guidance explains how enduring powers of attorney operate, when decision-making authority starts and ends, and what families can do when no EPA exists.
Historical property EPA notes and appointment form, rather than the separate standard explanation; 17 physical pages and no appended donor-witness certificate.
Personal care and welfare EPA package: five pages of notes, seven appointment pages and three witness-certificate pages; current Office for Seniors PDF matches the preserved original.
Property EPA package with five notes pages, fourteen appointment pages and three witness-certificate pages; current official PDF and Word formats have a trust-law reference discrepancy.
The ten-page original carries footer PTEL120 06/21, visually verified as June 2021. Its current [Public Trust download](https://www.publictrust.co.nz/products-and-services/trusts/) has a November 2023 filename and modification date; these are separate version and production clues, not proof of first publication. The [Trusts Act 2019](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2019/38/en/latest.pdf), checked 9 October 2026, supplies the exact duties, disclosure procedures and duration rules.
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