When do you need to register a Power of Attorney?

by Parsa Sanjana | Feb 12, 2025| Latest News

Being appointed as an Attorney by parents or elder relatives allows that person to deal with the appointor’s finances if needed. This can include managing bank transactions, paying bills and even investing money. The Power of Attorney document operates as the legal instrument to give the attorney rights and is regulated by the Power of Attorney Act in NSW.

Most of us think that appointing our reliable successor as our Attorney is the last step to relieve ourselves from any stress in the case of emergency. However, there is one more step that should be considered in some circumstances. An Attorney can take care of your finances in your absence but only to the extent of handling your finances.

When it comes to dealing with real estate – including buying or selling property and leasing – the Attorney does not have the right to deal with that asset unless the POA document has been registered with Land Registry Services. This is an additional step after the document has been signed and accepted. You may not think that, as an Attorney, you will need to deal with real estate.  But we commonly have clients who are assisting a family member move into a nursing home and need to arrange the sale of a property in order to pay nursing home fees urgently. Registering the POA in such a situation can become hectic and can delay access to those funds.

This issue becomes a bit more complicated when someone has a property in New South Wales but has a POA drafted and accepted in a different state or territory of Australia. Such documents are accepted in New South Wales for registration provided that the documents comply with the New South Wales laws. However, a POA document made overseas is not valid in Australia and the appointor would need to make another POA in Australia to allow the Attorney to deal with real estate here.

After successful lodgement, the original POA document is endorsed with a registration number and the Attorney is required to disclose this number when signing any legal or financial documents on the appointor’s behalf. If there is more than one Attorney and one of them has not accepted the appointment, the document can still be registered with Land Registry Services. However, it will be required to be registered again after the other Attorney has accepted their appointment and wishes to exercise their power in relation to real estate.

To avoid such issues, appointors should consider registering their POA in advance. This proactive approach ensures that their Attorney can act without delay when property transactions become necessary. While having a POA provides financial security, registering it with NSW Land Registry Services is a crucial step to ensure the Attorney can effectively manage all aspects of the appointor’s estate.