Capacity & Protection

Capacity and protection matters arise where individuals require legal structures or support to assist with decision-making, financial management, or personal welfare. These matters often sit at the intersection of estate planning, disability support, family dynamics, and regulatory oversight and require careful, proportionate legal advice.

Crownmark Lawyers advises individuals, families, carers, providers, and organisations on a broad range of capacity and protective matters. Our focus is on ensuring that appropriate legal frameworks are in place to protect vulnerable individuals, manage risk, and support lawful decision-making, while preserving autonomy wherever possible.

Capacity and protection matters may arise gradually or in response to a specific event, such as illness, injury, cognitive decline, or regulatory intervention. We provide clear advice on available options, legal thresholds, and practical implications, allowing clients to make informed decisions with confidence.

Where appropriate, advice in this area may be provided on an agreed or staged fee basis through Crownmark Assured Pricing (CAP), offering clarity around scope and costs from the outset.

Guardianship, administration and protective arrangements

We advise on matters involving decision-making capacity and protective arrangements, including where formal authority is required to manage personal, medical, or financial affairs. This may include applications for guardianship or administration, advice on statutory decision-makers, and guidance on duties and responsibilities once appointments are made.

Our role is to assist clients to understand when formal intervention is required, what evidence is needed, and how to structure arrangements that are lawful, appropriate, and proportionate to the circumstances.

Supportive decision-making and capacity planning

Not all capacity-related matters require formal guardianship or administration. In many cases, individuals are able to make their own decisions with appropriate support.

Crownmark Lawyers advises on supportive decision-making arrangements and capacity planning, including how these frameworks interact with powers of attorney, advance care directives, and broader estate planning. Our approach is focused on preserving autonomy while ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.

NDIS participants and families

We provide legal advice to NDIS participants and their families on matters that intersect with capacity, protection, and long-term planning. This may include advice on guardianship and administration issues, planning for ongoing care and support, structuring estates for beneficiaries with a disability, and managing decision-making authority.

Our advice is practical and integrated, recognising that NDIS participation often sits alongside estate planning, family law, and financial management considerations. We assist clients to navigate these overlapping frameworks in a way that supports stability, compliance, and long-term outcomes.

NDIS providers and service organisations

Crownmark Lawyers also advises NDIS providers and service organisations on legal and regulatory issues relevant to capacity and protection. This includes advice on governance, contractual arrangements, participant decision-making authority, risk management, and compliance obligations.

We assist providers to understand their legal position when working with participants who may have impaired or fluctuating capacity and to structure their practices in a way that is compliant, defensible, and commercially sound.

Protective estate and succession planning

Capacity and protection issues often require forward planning. We advise on estate planning strategies designed to protect vulnerable individuals over the long term, including the use of trusts, controlled distributions, and succession arrangements that take account of capacity-related risks.

This work frequently overlaps with planning for dependants, beneficiaries with a disability, and families seeking certainty around future care and asset management.

When capacity or protection issues arise

Capacity and protection matters are often sensitive and complex. Whether the issue involves an individual, a family, or an organisation, early advice can help clarify options, reduce risk, and avoid unnecessary escalation.

Crownmark Lawyers provides considered, technically sound advice across capacity and protection matters, supporting clients to put appropriate legal structures in place and to respond effectively when challenges arise.