Power of attorney in New Zealand: the types, the cost and how to set one up
A power of attorney is a legal document letting someone else, your attorney, make decisions or sign documents on your behalf. New Zealand has two kinds: an ordinary power of attorney, which stops the moment you lose mental capacity, and an enduring power of attorney (EPA), which keeps working after that and is what most people need (New Zealand Law Society, retrieved 9 September 2026). Public Trust charges from $219 online; a fixed-fee lawyer typically charges from $249.
This page covers general legal, cost and process questions about power of attorney. If you are looking specifically at how an EPA interacts with an insurance policy or a claim, our separate guide on enduring power of attorney and insurance covers that narrower question instead.
Ordinary power of attorney vs enduring power of attorney
An ordinary power of attorney lets someone act for you for a specific purpose or period, for example while you are overseas or in hospital for a short time, but it becomes invalid the moment you lose the mental capacity to make your own decisions (govt.nz, Enduring power of attorney, retrieved 9 September 2026). It is set up under general contract and agency law rather than a single dedicated statute.
An enduring power of attorney is created under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026) and is specifically designed to continue, or "endure", once you can no longer manage your own affairs. There are two separate EPAs, and you can set up one or both:
| Type of EPA | Covers | Who can be attorney |
|---|---|---|
| Property EPA | Money, bank accounts, investments, the family home and other assets | One or more attorneys, acting jointly, severally, or by majority |
| Personal care and welfare EPA | Where you live, medical treatment and day-to-day wellbeing decisions | Only one attorney at a time |
(New Zealand Law Society; govt.nz; Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988; retrieved 9 September 2026.)
What is the difference between an ordinary power of attorney and an enduring power of attorney in NZ?
An ordinary power of attorney ends automatically if you lose mental capacity, which is precisely the situation it is usually needed for, while an enduring power of attorney is built under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 to keep operating once that happens (govt.nz, retrieved 9 September 2026). Most people setting up a power of attorney for future planning purposes need the enduring version, not the ordinary one.
Do you need a lawyer for an EPA?
Yes. Section 94A of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 requires an enduring power of attorney to be witnessed and certified by a lawyer, a qualified legal executive, or a representative of a trustee corporation such as Public Trust, who must confirm you understood what you were signing (Community Law, retrieved 9 September 2026). You cannot simply download a form, sign it yourself and have it be valid.
Who can be an attorney?
Anyone 20 or over that you trust can be your attorney, including a spouse, partner, adult child, friend, or a professional such as a lawyer or Public Trust; there is no legal requirement that an attorney be a lawyer (New Zealand Law Society, retrieved 9 September 2026). The only formal restriction on a personal care and welfare EPA is that it can only ever be one person at a time, though you can name a successor.
Is being someone's next of kin the same as holding their power of attorney?
No. Next of kin has no automatic legal authority to manage someone's finances or make care decisions for them in New Zealand; only an appointed attorney under a valid EPA, or someone with a Family Court order, can do that (Public Trust, retrieved 9 September 2026). A spouse or adult child cannot simply step in because they are the closest relative.
Can my spouse or partner and I have the same attorney?
Yes, you can each appoint the same person, such as an adult child, or you can appoint each other. Many couples set up mirrored EPAs naming each other as first attorney and a shared adult child as successor attorney, but each EPA is still a separate legal document specific to the person who signs it (govt.nz, retrieved 9 September 2026).
How long does an enduring power of attorney last?
An EPA lasts until it is revoked, until the attorney or donor dies, or until a court cancels it; there is no fixed expiry date written into the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 (New Zealand Legislation, retrieved 9 September 2026). This is different from an ordinary power of attorney, which commonly has a stated end date or event.
What happens if my attorneys disagree?
If you appointed more than one property attorney to act jointly, meaning all must agree, a genuine disagreement can stop decisions being made at all, which is one reason many people instead choose "severally" (any attorney can act alone) or majority decision-making when there are multiple attorneys (New Zealand Law Society, retrieved 9 September 2026). Deciding this in advance, rather than leaving it to the default, avoids a stalemate later.
Can an EPA be used while I still have full capacity?
For a property EPA, yes, if you set it to take effect immediately. A personal care and welfare EPA is different: it can only be used once a health practitioner certifies you lack the relevant capacity (govt.nz, retrieved 9 September 2026).
What it costs
Prices vary by provider and by whether you set up one EPA or both. The table below sets out named, dated examples across the market.
An EPA generally costs less than a will with a testamentary trust but more than a simple online will, and the figures below show the range across lawyers and Public Trust.
| Provider | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ross Holmes Virtual Lawyers (named Auckland firm), online | One EPA $249 (individual) / $379 (couple); both EPAs $449 (individual) / $679 (couple) | Fixed fee, GST included, free updates for 12 months |
| Ross Holmes Virtual Lawyers, assisted (paper or help completing) | One EPA $349 (individual) / $649 (couple); both EPAs $649 (individual) / $1,199 (couple) | Fixed fee, GST included |
| Public Trust, online | $219 per EPA (individual) / $329 (couple), for either the property or the welfare EPA | Witnessing appointment included |
| Public Trust, in-centre | $385 per EPA (individual) / $705 (couple), for either the property or the welfare EPA | Witnessing included; further time from $346.15 (GST included) an hour if needed |
Source: Ross Holmes Virtual Lawyers, EPA fees, retrieved 9 September 2026; Public Trust, Pricing, retrieved 9 September 2026.
How much does it cost to set up an EPA in New Zealand?
A single enduring power of attorney costs from $219 through Public Trust's online service or from $249 through a fixed-fee firm such as Ross Holmes Virtual Lawyers, and setting up both the property and the personal care and welfare EPA together runs from about $438 online to $1,199 for a couple using an assisted service (Ross Holmes Virtual Lawyers; Public Trust; retrieved 9 September 2026). Costs rise if your situation is complex, for example if you want detailed instructions about specific assets or successor attorneys.
Who you can appoint, and what they can do
You choose your attorney, called the donor's attorney, and you can name more than one for a property EPA, deciding whether they must act jointly (all agree), severally (any one can act alone) or by majority. Only one attorney at a time can hold a personal care and welfare EPA, though you can name a successor to take over if the first attorney can no longer act (govt.nz, Create an enduring power of attorney, retrieved 9 September 2026).
What responsibility comes with Power of Attorney?
An attorney must act honestly, in good faith, and in the best interests of the donor, and for a property EPA, manage the property as a prudent person of business would manage their own affairs, unless the EPA says otherwise (Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, ss 97 and 99A, retrieved 9 September 2026). Misuse can be reported and challenged; see power of attorney misuse in NZ.
When does an enduring power of attorney take effect?
A personal care and welfare EPA only takes effect once a health practitioner certifies you lack the capacity to make the relevant decisions yourself. A property EPA can be set to take effect immediately on signing, or only once you become mentally incapable, and you choose which option when you set it up (govt.nz, retrieved 9 September 2026). Most people choose to let a property EPA activate immediately if they want an attorney to help manage day-to-day finances even before any incapacity, or only on incapacity if they want to keep full control until then.
Why would a GP suggest that an enduring power of attorney is needed?
A GP may raise an EPA after a diagnosis such as dementia or another progressive condition, or after a health event like a stroke, because an EPA can only be signed while you still have the mental capacity to understand what you are agreeing to (New Zealand Law Society, retrieved 9 September 2026). Once capacity is lost, it is too late to set one up, and the family must instead apply to the Family Court, which is slower and more expensive than arranging an EPA in advance.
Can I cancel an EPA once it's signed?
Yes, while you still have mental capacity, you can revoke an EPA at any time by giving written notice, and the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 sets out the formal process for doing so (Ministry of Justice, The court and enduring power of attorney, retrieved 9 September 2026). Once you have lost capacity, you generally cannot revoke it yourself, and any change then has to go through the Family Court.
If there is no EPA and capacity is lost
If someone loses mental capacity without ever signing an EPA, family members cannot simply step in to manage their affairs; spouses, partners and next of kin are not automatically entitled to do this (Public Trust, retrieved 9 September 2026). Instead, someone has to apply to the Family Court for a property order or a personal order under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, which is a court process with its own costs, delays and evidence requirements, and which the Ministry of Justice's own EPA forms and guidance page sets out (Ministry of Justice, retrieved 9 September 2026).
This is the practical reason an EPA is worth setting up before it is needed, not after: the alternative is a court application at exactly the moment a family is already dealing with a health crisis.
Setting one up: the steps
- Decide whether you need a property EPA, a personal care and welfare EPA, or both.
- Choose your attorney or attorneys, and successor attorneys if you want them.
- Get advice from, and sign in front of, a lawyer, qualified legal executive, or a trustee corporation such as Public Trust, as required by section 94A of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988.
- Decide when a property EPA takes effect: immediately, or only on incapacity.
- Store the signed original safely and tell your attorney, and usually your family, that it exists and where it is kept.
(New Zealand Law Society; govt.nz; Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988; retrieved 9 September 2026.)
An EPA is often set up at the same time as a will, since both documents plan for the same broad set of "what happens if" scenarios; see making a will in NZ for that companion process, will templates in NZ if you want a lower-cost starting point, and QuoteHub's own free will service if you have not yet made a will. If you already hold a life insurance or income protection policy, checking who is named to make decisions if you are unable to manage a claim yourself is worth doing at the same time as setting up a property EPA; see enduring power of attorney and insurance for that specific interaction, and who gets your life insurance payout in NZ for how a policy's own beneficiary nomination sits alongside your EPA and will. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.
Where power of attorney fits in the wider estate picture
Power of attorney only covers decisions made while you are alive but unable to manage your own affairs. It has no effect after death, at which point a will and the probate process take over instead. Reading these two planning tasks together is worth doing once, rather than separately: our estate planning in New Zealand hub sets out the full checklist, from making a will through to dying without one, understanding the Property (Relationships) Act, weighing a testamentary trust, and administering a deceased estate once the time comes. If you are choosing between a lawyer and a trustee corporation for either your will or your EPA, our Public Trust wills comparison and our note on setting up a family trust cover the two other common estate-planning decisions people make around the same time.
If you are the one who has been asked to act as someone else's attorney, understanding what can go wrong, and what your own responsibilities are, matters just as much as setting one up for yourself; see power of attorney misuse in NZ for the warning signs and what to do if you suspect a problem. And if the person you are managing affairs for later dies, our when someone dies cluster picks up from there, covering everything from bereavement leave to the executor's role and who to notify after a death.
For your own family, a current will, an EPA, and adequate life insurance, trauma cover or income protection are pieces that work together. A licensed financial adviser or your nearest insurance adviser can check whether your existing cover matches your situation, and the life insurance calculator is a useful starting point.
Adviser's view
The mix-up QuoteHub sees most often is treating power of attorney as one document. An ordinary power of attorney stops the moment you lose mental capacity, which is exactly when most families need help, while an enduring power of attorney is built to keep working through that. Setting up the wrong one, or none at all, is what sends a family to the Family Court later at far greater cost and delay than doing it properly now.
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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Power of Attorney NZ: Types, Cost, How to Set One Up. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/estate/power-of-attorney-nz. Updated 2026-09-09.
References
- Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988
- New Zealand Law Society: Powers of Attorney
- govt.nz: Enduring power of attorney
- govt.nz: Create an enduring power of attorney
- Ministry of Justice: The court and enduring power of attorney (EPA)
- Community Law: How to create an enduring power of attorney
- Public Trust: Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA)
- Public Trust: Pricing
- Ross Holmes Virtual Lawyers: Enduring Powers of Attorney fees
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, How Were Paid.