Power of attorney and CDD: attorney, donor, or both?
Under a power of attorney you usually need both. The donor is still the customer of the conveyance, and the attorney is the person you are dealing with, and one does not delete the other.
Quick answer
If the service is the owner's transfer, the owner remains the customer even though an attorney signs. Identify the donor under your program, and be satisfied the attorney has authority to instruct. Do not replace the donor's name with the child's because the child came to the office. This page does not list the papers that prove the power.
People search “power of attorney AML CDD” when an adult child holds a power of attorney for a parent and attends the conveyance of the family home alone. Checked against AUSTRAC's overview of initial customer due diligence on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. Initial due diligence in general is customer due diligence requirements. How a professional firm runs the check is KYC verification in Australia. The sector map is /tranche-2.
The signature is not the customer
A power of attorney lets someone else sign and instruct. It does not rename the person whose property is being transferred. On a conveyance of the parent's home, the parent is the customer of that service. The child in your office is the attorney, and you need to know who the customer is, and you need to know you are taking instructions from someone who may give them.
Firms pick one name to save a check, and picking only the attorney loses the customer. Picking only the donor, and never looking at the attorney, means you do not know who is in the room. Your program says what 'know' requires for each, and this page does not. It also does not list certificates, enduring forms, or any stand-in for identity documents, and collect what the program already names.
- Start with the service. Whose transfer are you assisting? That person is the customer, even if they are not in the room.
- Then the person instructing. The attorney is not a courier. You need to be satisfied they hold the authority.
- Do not merge the names. 'The daughter, for Mum' is two people. Write both.
- Do not invent a document pack. Proof of the power is what your program and your usual conveyancing practice require. A blog does not add a list.
Donor, attorney, or both
A sorting aid for a power of attorney file. This table does not reproduce AUSTRAC's initial CDD overview, and it is not a document list.
| Who you are looking at | Why they stay on the file | The shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| The donor, who owns the property | They are the customer of the transfer | Skipping them because they did not attend |
| The attorney, who instructs | You are acting on their instructions | Assuming the form in the bundle is enough without a look |
| Both | Customer and instructor are different people | One KYC link labelled 'the family' |
| A donor who is also in the office and signs personally | The attorney may not be your customer at all | Checking the child because they drove |
Where the attorney page stops
This page is donor and attorney, not one or the other by default. It is not the full initial due diligence list, and it is not the professional-firm check walk-through. Those are customer due diligence requirements and KYC verification in Australia.
What the client pays
On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. The donor and the attorney are not one shared KYC price if your program requires both of them to be verified. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not choose the attorney instead of the donor, or the donor instead of the attorney.
📚 Related Resources
Lawyer AML Toolkit →
Complete compliance toolkit for lawyers & conveyancers.
Conveyancer AML Tools →
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Free KYC Check →
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Free AML Program →
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Risk Assessment Generator →
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Free AML Training →
Online courses for staff. CPD-certified certificates included.
Frequently Asked Questions
The owner is the customer. The attorney still has to be known.
The firm suite is A$0. The client pays each check the program requires. The firm emails the link. A personal KYC check is A$20.
Start a KYC checkQuestions: team@freeaml.com.au