You are encouraged to arrange a Scottish Power of Attorney (PoA) on behalf of your loved ones.
In the event of an illness or accident, a PoA is a legal document allowing a nominated person to act or make decisions on a family member’s behalf.
Every year thousands of people across Scotland lose capacity.
The only way you can plan for your future is to appoint someone with Power of Attorney.
If you are in hospital or a care environment, or even your own home, no one can act for you – pay bills, manage your welfare or make key decisions unless you have made your plan.
Think and act now: If ill health or an accident means you can’t make decisions for yourself, who do you want to make them for you?”
Myths include the misconception that if a person loses capacity they can rely on members of their family act on their behalf. Unfortunately, unless an individual PoA has been arranged, this is not the case.
If a person has not granted powers in advance and they lose the capacity to make their own decisions, then the courts have to appoint someone to be their “guardian”.
There are mechanisms by which family members can apply to be granted these powers after someone has lost capacity but that can be a long and expensive process and requires a court hearing.
This is about giving people the power to make decisions that will protect them, their family and those they care about should they ever lose capacity to make decisions for themselves.
Family members can prepare it for their parents but everybody should check first with their doctor that he or she is prepared to sign a statement (attached to the POA) saying““I am satisfied that, at the time this Power of Attorney was granted, the granter understood its nature and extent””
The website has been prepared by a lawyer, Bruce to Wert.
His aim was and is to make the complicated, simple and expensive, inexpensive.
Powers of Attorney on this website are legally valid.
Anyone interested in finding out more about Powers of Attorney visit https://www.myscottishattorney.co.uk/. There is a lot of free information there.
Bruce de Wert
