Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988

If you need more information about this Act, please contact the administering agency: Ministry of Justice
94 Interpretation

(1)

For the purposes of this Part, the donor of an enduring power of attorney is mentally incapable in relation to property if the donor is not wholly competent to manage his or her own affairs in relation to his or her property.

(2)

For the purposes of this Part, the donor of an enduring power of attorney is mentally incapable in relation to personal care and welfare if the donor—

(a)

lacks the capacity—

(i)

to make a decision about a matter relating to his or her personal care and welfare; or

(ii)

to understand the nature of decisions about matters relating to his or her personal care and welfare; or

(iii)

to foresee the consequences of decisions about matters relating to his or her personal care and welfare or of any failure to make such decisions; or

(b)

lacks the capacity to communicate decisions about matters relating to his or her personal care and welfare.

(3)

Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) affects any rule of law relating to capacity to give or to revoke a power of attorney.

(4)

In this Part—

health practitioner

(a)

has the meaning given to it by section 5(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003:

(b)

in the case of a certificate of mental incapacity issued outside New Zealand, means a person registered as a medical practitioner by the competent authority of the State concerned

lawyer has the meaning given to it by section 6 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

prescribed form means a form prescribed by regulations under this Act

relevant health practitioner means a health practitioner—

(a)

whose scope of practice includes the assessment of a person’s mental capacity; or

(b)

whose scope of practice—

(i)

includes the assessment of a person’s mental capacity; and

(ii)

is specified in the enduring power of attorney (for example, a specialist).

Section 94: substituted, on 25 September 2008, by section 7 of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 90).