Welfare & Financial Guardianships
Where an Adult is unable to grant a POA then friends and family can apply to the courts for an order which has similar powers to a POA.
This will allow the Guardian to make decisions about where an individual should stay, be able to discuss matters with Doctors, have access to financial information from banks, pay bills and sell an individual’s house (if that is deemed appropriate).
An Intervention Order is similar to a Guardianship Order but is for one specific matter as opposed to a list of powers. For instance if a house requires to be sold and no other powers are needed. This is a lengthy process where 3 or 4 reports from Doctors and specialist Social Workers (called a Mental Health Officer) are submitted to the Court with an Application detailing the powers that are required. The Courts will grant the order for a specific period and this will require to be renewed prior to the expiry date of the order.
The legal fees for this are covered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board if there are both financial and Welfare powers required. If the Guardianship Order (or Intervention Order) is for financial matters only then no legal Aid is available.
Guardianship / Intervention Order Fees
Welfare and Financial carried out with the use of Scottish Legal Aid funding.
Intervention Order and Guardianship Orders with Financial powers only are carried out on a time and line basis as per our Terms of Business £200.00 / hour (£20.00 per unit) plus outlays and £500 initial payment. Typical outlays are Medical reports £100- £400 depending on the Doctors charges.
Some outlays require to be paid up front such as Bond of Caution dues (specialist insurance required by the Court. The premium is dependent on the size of the estate) These are recovered from the estate after the Order is granted by the Court.
