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community give advance thought to how they want decisions made on their behalf should the need arise, it is possible to avoid many of the complications that arise if no advance planning has been carried out.
HOW CAN THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT
BE USED TO PROTECT A RELIGIOUS’ WISHES?
There are three main ways in which a member of a religious community can provide for their views to be taken into account should the situation arise:
1. By authorising named individuals to act in their best interests under a “Lasting Power of Attorney”
2. By deciding in advance what medical treatments they may wish to refuse, by using an “Advance Decision” (or “Living Will”); and
3. By making known their views and identifying the key people that they want to be consulted as part of any decision making process using an “Advance Statement”
WHAT IS A LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY?
A power of attorney is a document which allows one person (the donor) to appoint one or more individuals (the attorney(s)) to make decisions on their behalf and can apply in many contexts.
Lasting Powers of Attorney are a particular type of power of attorney that allow individuals to appoint others to make decisions for them about key issues even when they lack capacity to make decisions for themselves. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) introduced by the Act:
1. Property and Financial Affairs LPA; and
2. Health and Welfare LPA
The Property and Financial Affairs LPA allows someone to appoint attorney(s) to deal with their nancial affairs. In the context of religious communities, the need to deal with nancial affairs may be of lesser signi cance. However, in some cases the religious may have assets of their own or patrimony that they need to be administered in the event that they lose capacity and may wish to
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