Making and ending a general power of attorney

Part of the Powers of Attorney topic

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In short

Completing the form

You can download and print a free copy of the General power of attorney form (form 1).

You can print a copy of the form at your local library or access a print on demand service.

Getting the form witnessed

If you would like your attorney(s) to deal with land in Queensland on your behalf, you must sign the form in the presence of an eligible witness. This could be a:

• Justice of the Peace (JP)
• Commissioner for Declarations (Cdec)
• lawyer
• notary public.

If you don’t want your attorney(s) to deal with land on your behalf, any adult may witness your signature.

Registering your general power of attorney (if required)

Before your attorney(s) can deal with land in Queensland on your behalf, your general power of attorney must be registered with the Queensland Titles Registry.

Lodge a Request to register power of attorney/Revocation or Power of Attorney Form (Form 16).

Include a certified copy of the general power of attorney.

Be aware that once registered with the Titles Registry, an image of the general power of attorney will exist on a publicly searchable register.

You do not have to register your general power of attorney anywhere if your attorney(s) does not need to deal with land in Queensland on your behalf.

Making a certified copy

A certified copy of your general power of attorney can be made by making a copy of the original general power of attorney and having one of the following people certify that it is a true and complete copy of the original document:

• Justice of the Peace (JP)
• Commissioner for Declarations (CDec)
• lawyer
• notary public.

Ending your general power of attorney

Your general power of attorney will end if you lose capacity to make decisions.

You may revoke (end) your general power of attorney at any time, if you have capacity to make a new general power of attorney.

Use the General power of attorney revocation form (form 5) to revoke your general power of attorney.

You must take all reasonable steps to advise all your attorneys that it has been revoked.

If it had been registered with the Queensland Titles Registry, you should also register your revocation of the enduring power of attorney.

This can be done by lodging another Request to register power of attorney/Revocation or Power of Attorney Form (Form 16), along with a single-sided copy of the General power of attorney revocation form (form 5).