Practice area
Guides on enduring powers of attorney, medical treatment decision makers, supportive attorneys, guardianship, administration and the elder-law safeguards that protect Victorians who appoint or act under them.
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A practical guide to enduring powers of attorney and medical treatment decision makers under Victorian law — and what happens if you don't have one.
A Notice of Decision refusing access to funded aged care services, setting a classification level or assigning a priority category can be challenged. This guide explains which decisions are reviewable under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth), how to request reconsideration within 28 days, what the internal decision reviewer must do within 90 days, the deemed-affirmation rule, and how and when to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
A reverse mortgage lets an older homeowner borrow against home equity while ordinarily keeping ownership, with repayment postponed until a contractual trigger. This Victorian guide explains the consumer-credit protections that apply, what the credit contract and mortgage actually control, how capacity and enduring powers of attorney affect the transaction, what happens to a spouse or co-resident, and how the debt is dealt with on a move into aged care or on death.
A Victorian advance care directive can contain an instructional directive, a values directive, or both. This guide explains the legal difference under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic), the formal signing and witnessing requirements, when each type of statement operates, what health practitioners and medical treatment decision makers must do with it, and the limits and exclusions that apply.
Part 3 Division 1 of the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) gives older people a Statement of Rights when accessing, or seeking to access, funded aged care services. This guide explains each right in section 23, how section 24 governs their effect and permits necessary balancing, why the Statement is not directly enforceable in a court or tribunal, and how it still bites through provider registration conditions and the complaints system.
Since 1 November 2025, complaints about Australian Government-funded aged care are handled under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Complaints Commissioner. This guide explains who may complain, what the process covers, how to prepare and lodge a complaint, what outcomes are realistic, and when police, VCAT or a lawyer is the better pathway.
Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care Programme on 1 November 2025. This guide explains how the program interacts with legal capacity, powers of attorney, service agreements and decision-making for older Australians who remain at home.
Recognising elder financial abuse in Victoria — warning signs across bank accounts, property, wills and powers of attorney, and the civil and protective legal options available to families.
The Victorian legal authority families need before residential aged-care placement — enduring powers of attorney, medical treatment decision-makers, signing agreements and dealing with RAD/DAP choices.
A practical Victorian guide to appointing a supportive attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) — what a supportive attorney can and cannot do, how it differs from an enduring power of attorney, capacity requirements, the correct form and witnessing, decision-support rather than substitute decision-making, third-party recognition, revocation and safeguards against abuse.
A practical guide to appointing and acting as a medical treatment decision maker in Victoria, including capacity, advance care directives and disputes.
Being appointed as an attorney can be a significant responsibility. Learn when and how an attorney may resign from the role in Victoria.
An attorney appointed under an enduring power of attorney must act in the principal's best interests. Learn what options may be available if concerns arise about misuse of authority.
The most common mistakes Victorians make when appointing an enduring power of attorney — choosing the wrong attorney, conflicts of interest, capacity, record keeping and how to prevent financial abuse.
When and how an enduring power of attorney can be revoked in Victoria — capacity, the formal revocation process, notification, replacing an attorney, family disputes and Court involvement.
When a loved one has lost capacity and has no Will — or an outdated one — the Supreme Court of Victoria may authorise a statutory will. A plain-English guide for families on how it works and when it applies.
