Document Pack
In order to create an EPA the following documents are required:
- EPA Arrangement Template
- EPA Attorney Declaration Form
- EPA Donor Declaration Form
- EPA Legal Practitioner Statement
- EPA Statement of Capacity
- EPA Notice Form
Here at Assisted Decisions we have created editable (MS Word) versions of each of the above documents for your convenience.
Our documents are identical to the documents used by the DSS – we have included the same content, the same logos, the same headings, the same footers, the same table layouts, and the same shading as has been used by the DSS in their documents.
In addition to the above six documents, we have created MS Word versions of the DSS ‘Identity Verification Form’ and of the Letters of Authority the DSS requires legal practitioners to use for donors and attorneys. These additional documents are included in the document pack.
You can purchase the document pack here, download it to your computer, and then use it as many times (for as many different clients) as you need.
We will be donating any profits to Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.
Notes
Changes to template documents
A few points to note here:
We generated our first document set on the MyDSS portal on 28 April 2023, two days after the portal became operational. Later that same day we received a message inside the portal from DSS management which said:
“Our system has generated documents for your application. Please do not use the documents that appear at the bottom of section 1E Generate documents of your application. If you have already downloaded these documents, please do not use them.”
We suspect that the DSS had noticed errors in the template documents (we found some of them ourselves – missing words, missing letters, and so on), had made changes to the template documents, and wished us to use the new templates rather than the old.
We will make no comment on the fact that the templates contained errors, and won’t mention the length of time it took for the legislation to finally become operational, and we won’t wonder what the DSS was doing during that time.
We generated a second document set on the MyDSS portal on 1 June 2023, in order to check what changes had been made to the template documents. There were a number of changes. We have incorporated all of the changes into the EPA Document Pack available above.
THE MAIN POINT TO NOTE is that the DSS templates are liable to change and, because the DSS has not published any specifications in relation to these documents, the DSS can make changes to the templates without telling anyone.
SHOULD YOU CARE? With respect, we suggest not. If, for example, John Doe generated the documents today but took 6 months to complete them and submit them to the DSS, the templates might have changed by the time John Doe’s documents arrive with the DSS. Can the DSS object to those documents because they do not correspond with the template? We suggest not. It would make a nonsense of the process if a person, who had gone to the trouble of getting various forms signed and witnessed, of getting his attorneys and witnesses into the same room for that purpose, could be told that he had to go through the whole process again with a new set of documents.
So, WE CONCLUDE by saying that although the templates may change, we don’t think that practitioners need be too concerned about that.
Alternative sources of documents
Sample (PDF) versions of these documents can be found on the DSS website, but as they are in PDF format they cannot be easily edited. You can view the DSS sample documents (in PDF format) on the DSS website.
Last Updated: 8 June 2023