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You should approach this
decision in the same way you would approach the
decision to make a valid will; its about
catering for unpleasant possibilities that you
can’t fully contemplate now, but doing so in
the interest of your loved ones and
yourself.
We all know or know of
people who have lost the ability to manage
their own affairs and make basic decisions
about their lives, whether through mental or
physical infirmity, misadventure, and so
on.
It will not happen to
everyone, of course, but there remains the
possibility that it could still happen to you.
For example, the increasing incidence of mental
infirmity in old age make it increasingly
likely that many of us will, at some point in
our life, lose the ability to make decisions
for ourselves.
Often, when this
happens, family members are unsure of how to
best care for the infirm and may have very
different ideas about how it should be
done.
An enduring guardian,
appointed by you, will make decisions about how
you live, in the event it happens to you.
You can be selective as
to what control you want them to have; you may
not wish to allocate complete responsibility to
one person but several, or may not want anyone
to make certain decisions for you. As long as
you are of sound mind, you can reverse or
modify the appointment of an enduring
guardian.
There are several things
an enduring guardian cannot perform under any
circumstances, such as financial or legal
decisions - these are the responsibility
of one’s power of attorney.
Like making a will,
appointing an enduring guardian is something
you do for the loved ones around you who may
one day be faced with this situation.
Unlike writing a will,
however, this is also something you can do for
yourself. An enduring guardian makes lifestyle
decisions and can deal with other very personal
matters. By appointing someone now, you can
still exercise some control over how you will
live later and the decisions that are made for
you. If you lose the ability to decide, it is
important to have someone – or several people -
who you can trust to make the right decisions
for you.
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