POWERS OF ATTORNEY
Your voice could disappear in a moment. If it did, no one speaks for you.
We prepare and register a single Power of Attorney for a fixed fee of £350 + VAT and the registration fee, and £650 + VAT and the registration fee for two Powers of Attorney couple fee — no hourly rates, no surprises. One conversation is all it takes to start, and our Family Protection Package covers mirror Wills and two POAs together for £830.83 + VAT (and registration fee)
THE SITUATION YOU’RE IN
Here's the fact that surprises almost everyone: your spouse cannot automatically deal with your affairs if you lose capacity
Not your bank account. Not your mortgage. Not decisions about your medical care or where you live. Marriage doesn't grant it. Joint accounts can be frozen. Even parents of adult children have no automatic authority.
If you lose capacity — through a stroke, dementia, an accident — without a Power of Attorney in place, your family's only route is a guardianship application through the Sheriff Court: months of delay, medical reports, court fees and legal costs typically running to thousands of pounds, all at the worst possible time. And the court, not you, decides who's appointed.
A Power of Attorney solves the whole problem in advance, for £350, while you're well. It is, pound for pound, the most valuable document most adults will ever sign.
POWER OF ATTORNEY
What is a Power of Attorney?
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A Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you choose the people you trust to make decisions for you — if a time ever comes when you can’t make them yourself. It is one of the most important documents you will ever sign, and one of the most commonly put off.
Most people assume a husband, wife or grown-up child could simply step in if they became ill or lost capacity. In Scotland, that isn’t the case. Without a Power of Attorney, your family would have to apply to the court for a Guardianship Order — a process that takes many months, involves medical reports and court hearings, and costs several times more than the document that would have avoided it
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In Scotland, a Power of Attorney usually covers two areas, and most people grant both in a single document:
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This lets your chosen person manage money and property — paying bills, operating accounts, dealing with your home, handling pensions and investments.
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This lets them make decisions about your health and personal welfare — where you live, your medical care, your day-to-day wellbeing. A welfare power can only be used once you are no longer able to make those decisions yourself.
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Everyone over eighteen, not just the elderly. Capacity can be lost suddenly and at any age — a stroke, an accident, a sudden illness. A Power of Attorney is not about age; it’s about making sure the people you trust can act when it matters, without fighting the courts to do so.
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The process is straightforward and usually completed in a single appointment:
We talk through your circumstances and who you’d like to appoint. We prepare the document, tailored to you — not an off-the-shelf form. It is then signed, and a solicitor certifies that you understood what you were signing and weren’t under any pressure. Finally, we register it with the Office of the Public Guardian, which is what makes it legally effective.
You stay in complete control while you are able. A Power of Attorney changes nothing until — and unless — it is needed.
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We prepare Powers of Attorney for a fixed fee, agreed before we begin, with a reduced rate for couples doing them together. There is a separate registration fee payable to the Office of the Public Guardian. You will know the full cost at the outset, with nothing to add at the end.
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A Power of Attorney only works if it is signed while you still have capacity. It cannot be done afterwards. That is why the best time to make one is now, while it’s simply a sensible precaution — not later, when it may be too late.
GUARDIANSHIP
What is a Guardianship?
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When an adult loses the capacity to make decisions for themselves — through dementia, a brain injury, a stroke, or a lifelong learning disability — their family is often left in an impossible position. They want to help, but without legal authority they simply aren’t allowed to: the bank won’t talk to them, the care home needs decisions no one can lawfully make, and important matters grind to a halt.
A Guardianship Order is how the court gives you that authority. It appoints you — or another trusted person — to make decisions on behalf of someone who can no longer make them alone, and it lets you act in their best interests, properly and lawfully.
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Guardianship becomes necessary when an adult no longer has capacity and there is no Power of Attorney already in place. It’s most often needed for:
An older person who has lost capacity through dementia or illness, without having made a Power of Attorney
A young adult with a significant learning disability, as they turn sixteen and their parents’ authority ends
Someone left without capacity after a sudden stroke, accident or brain injury
If a valid Power of Attorney exists, a Guardianship is usually unnecessary — which is exactly why making a Power of Attorney while you still can is so important.
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A Guardianship Order can cover:
Welfare — decisions about where the adult lives, their care, and their medical treatment.
Financial (property and affairs) — managing their money, benefits, property and bills.
Many orders cover both. We’ll advise on what’s appropriate for your situation and apply for exactly the powers needed — no more, no less.
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Guardianship is a court process, and there are important safeguards built in to protect the adult. It involves medical reports confirming the loss of capacity, a report from a Mental Health Officer or a suitability assessment for financial guardianships, and an application to the Sheriff Court.
It is more involved than a Power of Attorney, and it takes time — which is why we guide you through every stage, prepare the application carefully, and keep things moving as efficiently as the process allows. Our aim is to take the weight of it off your shoulders at what is already a difficult time
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Guardianship is one of the areas where legal aid is often available, depending on the adult’s financial circumstances — and civil legal aid for welfare guardianship is not always means-tested in the way people expect. We will check whether the adult qualifies at the outset, so you know where you stand on cost from the very start.
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If someone you love has lost capacity and you need the authority to help them, we can guide you through it with care and without jargon. A first conversation is confidential and without pressure — tell us what’s happening, and we’ll tell you exactly what’s involved.
Speak to a solicitor — 01389 756 785
WHAT WE DO
The services we provide
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Continuing Power of Attorney
Covering money and property: banking, bills, pensions, selling or maintaining your home
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Welfare Power of Attorney
Covering personal decisions: medical treatment, care arrangements, where you live
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One document, complete protection
Almost everyone should have both, in a single combined document — that's what our fixed fee covers
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Advice on choosing your attorney(s)
Who, how many, whether they act jointly, and substitutes if your first choice can't act
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Certification of capacity
A legal requirement — one reason POAs must involve a solicitor or doctor
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Registration with the Office of the Public Guardian
The document has no effect until registered; we handle the whole process
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POAs for elderly relatives
Including home and care-home visits where getting to the office is difficult
WHY NOW, WHILE IT FEELS UNNECESSARY
A Power of Attorney can only be granted while you have capacity. That's the catch that catches families out: by the time it's needed, it's too late to make one. Every week, solicitors in Scotland have to tell a worried family that the moment has passed and guardianship is now the only route. Don't be that phone call. The document sits quietly doing nothing until it's needed — and if it's never needed, £350 bought decades of insurance.
THE NEXT STEPS
How it works
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Office, phone, video, or we can visit. We explain the powers, you choose your attorneys.
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With the required capacity certificate completed.
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With the Office of the Public Guardian and send you the registered document.
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Typically complete within a few weeks — most of which is OPG processing time, another reason not to wait for a crisis.
OUR COSTS
What it costs
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Single Power of Attorney
£350 + vat and the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee
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Couples
Two POAs, and see the Family Protection Package — mirror wills plus both POAs, £1,195 (the sensible way to do it all at once)
WHAT TO DO NOW
What step to take next
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Think about who you'd trust
Most people know instantly.
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If you're arranging this for a parent, call us to talk through capacity and logistics first
We do this sensitively, and we can come to them.
FAQ’S
Question? We have answers
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A will speaks after death. A Power of Attorney speaks during your lifetime, if you can't. Most people need both — which is exactly what the Family Protection Package covers.
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No. You decide when powers can be used — welfare powers can only ever be used if you lack capacity, and continuing powers are typically drafted the same way or used only with your consent.
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Yes, and you can require them to act together or allow them to act separately, and name substitutes. We'll advise on what works in practice.
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Possibly not — capacity is decision-specific and many people in early-stage decline can still validly grant a POA. But the window closes. Call us this week, not next month.
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Then a guardianship or intervention order through the court is the route — we handle those too (see our Guardianships page), but it's slower and far more expensive. Prevention beats cure.
CONTACT US TODAY
£350 now, or a court application later
Put your Power of Attorney in place
GET IN TOUCH
Let's talk about your case
A confidential first conversation, at no obligation. Tell us what's happened — we'll tell you exactly where you stand and what happens next.
CALL
HOURS
Monday-Thursday 9am - 5pm | Friday 9am - 4pm