Ppo

The Vice President affirmed the Senior Member's orders, holding that the principal's revocation of her enduring power of attorney was valid and dismissing the former attorney's rehearing application and the application for appointment of an administrator. The decision reinforces that whether a person has decision-making capacity under s 4 of the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) is a binary question of objective fact, resolved independently of the principal's will and preference, and that the statutory presumption of capacity (s 4(2)) sets a relatively low threshold that is not displaced merely because a person makes decisions others consider unwise or holds views others consider unreasonable. The Tribunal cautioned against reasoning backwards from evidence of past poor decisions or potential vulnerability to a conclusion of incapacity, and emphasised that a long-standing treating practitioner's evidence may be preferred over neuropsychological assessments where the latter give undue weight to the quality of decision-making rather than functional capacity.