A report from England and Wales about Sir Ranulph Fiennes shows how much power a Power of Attorney gives. Here is what it means for anyone in Dunbartonshire or Stirlingshire, and what a solicitor can build in to protect you.
Most people who make a Power of Attorney spend a long time deciding whether they need one, and almost no time thinking about what it allows the person they appoint to do. A case reported in England and Wales in September has made that second question hard to ignore.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the 82-year-old explorer, has not been seen in public for around two years. The Daily Telegraph reported that a care watchdog concluded he had been "unlawfully deprived of his liberty" after his wife placed him in a care home.
It has been reported that he was placed in care homes under a false name, that his whereabouts are known only to his wife, Louise Millington-Cotes, and that a care home owner raised concerns with the authorities, including that no deprivation of liberty safeguards order had been obtained. It is also reported that Mrs Millington-Cotes was granted a lasting power of attorney in 2024, and that visitors were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements before seeing him. Sir Ranulph's stepson has said he contacted the safeguarding team at the Office of the Public Guardian and is crowdfunding a legal challenge to the Power of Attorney.
What we do and don't know
These are press reports and a regulator's view expressed in correspondence. No court has decided the matter, and it is not for us to say what happened or why.
What the case does do, and the reason it is worth writing about, is show how a Power of Attorney works once it is in force, and how few people understand that before they sign one.
What a welfare Power of Attorney really allows
A welfare Power of Attorney does far more than put someone on hand to help you. It hands decision-making authority to another person. Once it is in use, your attorney can decide where you live, which care home you move to, and whether and how often you move.
Depending on how the document is drafted, they may in practice control who has access to you, because the power to decide where someone lives carries a great deal with it.
Most people who appoint a husband, wife or child do not think of it in those terms. They think of someone helping with the bank. The financial side is the part everyone considers. The welfare side decides whether your later life is spent among the people you love or apart from them.
That is the real lesson, and it has nothing to do with celebrity. It is the ordinary reality of a document that hundreds of thousands of people sign without advice.
Is a Scottish Power of Attorney safer than an English one?
Partly. But it would be wrong to say Scotland is immune from potential difficulties too.
Where Scotland is stronger
A Solicitor must certify it. Under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, a Scottish Power of Attorney needs a certificate from a solicitor or a doctor confirming that they interviewed you immediately before you signed and are satisfied that you understood what you were doing. In England and Wales, the person who signs the certificate need not be a professional at all. In Scotland, every Power of Attorney has passed in front of someone whose job is to ask the awkward questions.
Adult protection powers. The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 gives councils real duties to investigate where an adult may be at risk of harm, including powers to seek assessment orders, removal orders and banning orders.
The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. A dedicated body with powers to look into the welfare of adults with mental disorder, and it does investigate individual cases. In England these functions are spread across several bodies.
The sheriff's role. Under the 2000 Act, a sheriff can give directions, and the court can revoke a Power of Attorney where the attorney is not acting in the granter's interests.
Where Scotland is weaker
Scotland has no equivalent of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The Scottish Government committed in 2023 to reforming the 2000 Act, including on deprivation of liberty, and a consultation and expert working group have taken that forward. But as things stand, the mechanism that flagged Mr Fiennes’ situation in England and Wales does not exist here in the same form.
So Scotland has better safeguards at the start and better adult protection machinery, and a gap of its own at the other end.
How a solicitor can draft a Power of Attorney to protect you
This part is within your control. A Power of Attorney is not a form. It can be built around your circumstances, and almost none of the following appears in an off-the-shelf version.
Split the roles. The same person does not have to hold both financial and welfare powers. Appointing different people creates a natural check, because neither can act entirely alone.
Appoint more than one attorney. Requiring two attorneys to act together on major welfare decisions is one of the simplest and most effective safeguards, and it costs nothing to include.
Name a substitute. If your first choice cannot or will not act, you decide who follows, not a court.
Require consultation. Your attorney can be obliged to consult named people before significant decisions, such as a change of residence or a move out of the area. This doesn't give them a veto, but it creates a record and a group of people who will notice.
Restrict specific powers. You can require that your attorney not move you outside a defined area, or not without the agreement of a named person. You can also specify that you keep your existing GP.
Decide how incapacity is determined. Welfare powers cannot be used while you have capacity, but you can set out how incapacity is to be assessed and by whom.
Write down who matters. A short statement of your wishes, covering who you want to see, where you want to live and what matters to you, is not legally binding. It carries real weight with attorneys, care providers and, if it ever came to it, a sheriff.
None of this is extraordinary. All it takes is a conversation with your local solicitor.
A question worth asking yourself
If you lost capacity tomorrow and the person you appointed made a decision your family thought was wrong, would anyone be in a position to find out?
If the honest answer is no, your power of attorney needs work. Not because you distrust the person you chose. Circumstances change over decades, and the safeguards you build in now cost little and may never be needed, which is exactly what makes them worth having.
What does a Power of Attorney cost in Scotland?
We agree our fees in writing before we start.
Power of Attorney (one person): £519 (£350 plus VAT plus the registration fee with the Office of the Public Guardian)
A Will and a Power of Attorney together: £639 (£450 plus VAT plus the registration fee)
The registration fee for a Power of Attorney is currently £99. It is set by the Office of the Public Guardian and is increased from time to time. You can find our full prices on our Fees page at jpslaw.co.uk
Power of Attorney solicitor in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire and Stirlingshire
We prepare Powers of Attorney for clients in Alexandria, Helensburgh, Loch Lomond and the villages of West Stirlingshire, including Killearn, Drymen, Strathblane and Balfron. We are equally happy to review one you already have. Plenty of people discover that theirs was never registered, or that it names an attorney who has since moved away or died.
You can see us at our office at 102 Main Street, Alexandria, or by video call, or at your home.
Call 01389 756785 or contact us online to arrange a suitable time to meet.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a solicitor to make a Power of Attorney in Scotland?
A solicitor or a doctor has to certify that you understood the document when you signed it. A solicitor can also draft it around your circumstances and add the protections described above.
Can I choose different people for money and for welfare decisions?
Yes. There is no requirement that one person holds both, and splitting the roles is one of the simplest safeguards.
Does a Power of Attorney have to be registered?
Yes. In Scotland it must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before your attorney can use it.
I already have a Power of Attorney. Is it worth reviewing?
Often, yes. It is worth checking that it is registered, that the people named are still able and willing to act, and that it contains the safeguards you would want now.
This article is general information about the law in Scotland and is not legal advice on any individual case. It reports matters that have appeared in the national press and expresses no view on the conduct of any individual. No court has made any finding in relation to the case referred to.