Question 1

What is the Power of Attorney &#8211; Tax Affairs for?

Accepted Answer

A Power of Attorney limited to tax affairs focuses solely on tax-related responsibilities, empowering the Attorney to manage the Principal's tax obligations while excluding other legal or financial decisions.

Question 2

Can a Power of Attorney limited to tax affairs be revoked?

Accepted Answer

The Principal has the right to revoke or amend the Power of Attorney as long as they have mental capacity to do so.

Question 3

Does the Attorney have access to other financial or legal matters?

Accepted Answer

No, the Power of Attorney limited to tax affairs only grants authority for tax-related matters. The Attorney appointed under this POA does not have the power to access or make decisions regarding the Principal’s other financial or legal affairs, unless specified in a separate legal document.

Question 4

How long does the Power of Attorney for tax affairs remain valid?

Accepted Answer

The Power of Attorney for tax affairs remains valid until it is revoked or amended by the Principal, the Principal loses capacity, passes away, or the Attorney becomes unable or unwilling to act on behalf of the Principal. It is important to regularly review and update the document as needed.

Question 5

How long does this document take to assemble?

Accepted Answer

Depending on the complexity of the data, this document should take approximately 10-25 secs to assemble. If you experience timing outside of this please contact Support via the Surge app, alternatively please read this article for troubleshooting tips https://info.lightyeardocs.com.au/supportcentre/troubleshooting-longer-assembly-times-timeouts .

Question 6

Is this a legal document?

Accepted Answer

All master documents have been signed off by LY Legal. Tony Anamourlis of LY Legal advises that “at no time, due to inbuilt legal protection and security measures can a user change or amend a document on the LYD platform that has been signed off by a practicing solicitor. To do so would result in the user drafting a document of a legal nature and engaging in the provision of legal services. In addition, it would be a breach of copyright. In our opinion when completing the form fields through the LYD platform, users and their employees are merely carrying out an administrative task which is not the provision of legal advice.”

However in some complex areas such as the insertion of a varied range of client instructions into a Will or other such documents the user must be mindful of the extent to which a document is being drafted by the user rather than merely the administrative task of completing a form where the relevant fields are inserted into the reviewed and signed legal document provided by LY Legal.

The above advice is born out of numerous cases dating back to Re Sanderson, Ex parte Law Institute of Victoria [1927] VLR 394, 397 where the Court held:

“if a person does a thing usually done by a solicitor, and does it in such a way as to lead to the reasonable inference that he is a solicitor – if he combines professing to be a solicitor with action usually taken by a solicitor – I think he then does act as a solicitor.”

Likewise in ACCC v Murray (2002) 121 FCR 428, 448 where Murray was building a franchise business that involved the legal writing and drafting of Wills from scratch based on the client’s personal circumstances. The Court held that this process was legal work.

Question 7

Is the document easy to read?

Accepted Answer

All LYD products are written in plain English and assessed for readability. If at any time you come across any errors, please contact support@lyd.com.au.

Question 8

What lawyers sign off on LYD documents?

Accepted Answer

All LYD documents are prepared and signed off by LY Legal.

Question 9

Are the LYD documents reviewed regularly?

Accepted Answer

All LYD documents form part of the LYD internal review process. We review all documents at least annually or when required to do so due to changes in legislation. Further details of this process and a review schedule is include on this website.