Guides / Business owners and directors
Business owners and company directors
If you are the only person who can sign for your business, your loss of capacity can stop it overnight: wages unpaid, accounts frozen, contracts unsigned. A power of attorney for business owners is part of the answer, but not all of it.
On this page: What we look at What it costs The law Enquire
Power of attorney for business owners: in short
- “Carrying on any trade or business of the principal” is a financial matter you can give an attorney.
- An attorney acts for you personally. An attorney does not become a director of your company by holding your power of attorney. [CHECK: confirm and add the Corporations Act position on alternate directors and a sole director who loses capacity; not researched.]
- Functions you hold as a trustee do not pass under a general non-enduring power. [CHECK: the position for an enduring power and trustee roles, including a family trust or self-managed superannuation fund.]
- An attorney cannot delegate, so name alternatives.
What we look at
- Sole traders: an attorney for financial matters with clear authority to run the business, deal with the bank and the tax office, employ and pay staff, and sell or close it.
- Companies: who can act if the sole director cannot: the constitution, a second director, the shareholder’s attorney voting the shares to appoint a director. [CHECK: confirm the wording.]
- Trusts: who replaces you as trustee or appointor; this is in the trust deed, not the power of attorney. [CHECK: confirm the wording.]
- Partnerships: what the partnership agreement says about incapacity.
- Conflicts: a business partner or family member as attorney will often have an interest in the transactions they make. Authorise them in the power, or the attorney carries the risk.
- Payment: an attorney running a business is doing real work. The power must say so before they can take payment.
Power of attorney for business owners: what it costs
This is advice beyond the standard fixed fee for making a power. [CHECK: set the fee.]
Next step
Tell us how you run the business: as a sole trader, company, trust or partnership. Send instructions or call 1800 776 529.
Power of attorney for business owners: the law
- Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) ss 3, 7, 25, 64, 65, 70.
Last reviewed: November 2026. This page is general information about Victorian law as at November 2026. It is not legal advice about your circumstances.
Send us an enquiry
We reply within one business day.
To send documents, use the Send instructions form. If something is about to happen in the next few days, such as a sale or a hearing, please also call us.
Phone: 1800 776 529
Email: info@enduringpowerofattorney.com.au
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5:30 pm
Office: 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199 (by appointment)
We act for attorneys and for families, but never for both sides of the same dispute. Before we start, we check that we have not acted for anyone else involved. [CHECK: confirm this line]