Planning for the Future with Confidence
At Cartys Solicitors, we believe everyone should have peace of mind about the future. Whether you are looking to protect your loved ones, safeguard your assets, or ensure your wishes are respected, making a will and granting a Power of Attorney are two of the most important legal steps you can take.
Together, these documents ensure that your affairs are handled in accordance with your wishes, both during your lifetime and after your death.
Wills and Ensuring Your Wishes Are Met
Making a will ensures that your estate is distributed according to your wishes after your death. Without a will, the law decides who inherits, and it might not be who you expect.
Our Will Services Include:
- Drafting and updating wills.
- Appointing Executors.
- Providing inheritance and succession planning advice.
- Protecting vulnerable beneficiaries.
- Creating mirror wills for couples.
We guide you through the process clearly and compassionately, ensuring everything is tailored to your individual needs.
This is the second time I’ve used Carty Solicitors and I can definitely recommend them. Excellent service, extremely helpful and we were kept up to date on everything.
ResinHut
Powers of Attorney and Protecting Your Future
A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more trusted individuals, known as your attorneys, to make decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so yourself. This loss of capacity could be temporary, for example due to an accident, or permanent, such as through illness or dementia. Having a Power of Attorney in place ensures that important decisions can still be made quickly, without the need for a lengthy and expensive court process.
Many people believe Powers of Attorney are only for the elderly, but the reality is that anyone can lose capacity at any age due to sudden illness, accident, or injury. Without one, your loved ones may have to apply for a Guardianship Order through the court before they can act on your behalf. This can be stressful, costly, and time-consuming, especially during an already difficult time.
Understanding Powers of Attorney in Scotland
In Scotland, there are two main types of Power of Attorney:
Continuing Power of Attorney
- Deals with your financial and property matters.
- Can allow your attorney to manage bank accounts, pay bills, sign documents, buy or sell property, and handle investments.
- Can take effect immediately in the event you lose capacity.
Welfare Power of Attorney
- Covers decisions about your personal welfare and healthcare.
- This might include where you live, your daily care arrangements, and consenting to or refusing medical treatment.
- Can only be used when you are no longer capable of making these decisions yourself.
Many people choose to combine both into a single document to ensure complete protection.
Your attorney should be:
- Someone you trust implicitly.
- Over the age of 16.
- Financially responsible and capable of making complex decisions.
- Willing to act in your best interests at all times.
It is common to appoint:
- A spouse or partner.
- An adult child.
- A family member.
- A close friend.
You can appoint more than one attorney and decide whether they must act jointly or independently.
A Power of Attorney can only be granted while you still have mental capacity. Once capacity is lost, you cannot create one, and your loved ones will have no automatic right to make decisions for you.
How We Can Help
We provide clear advice on whether a Continuing Power of Attorney, a Welfare Power of Attorney, or a combined document is most appropriate for your circumstances. We take time to understand your personal and financial situation so that the document reflects your wishes and provides appropriate protection.
We prepare a carefully drafted Power of Attorney tailored to your instructions and compliant with Scottish legal requirements. The document is structured clearly to minimise uncertainty and ensure your appointed attorney or attorneys understand the scope of their authority.
Choosing an attorney is an important decision. We offer practical guidance to help you consider who is best placed to act on your behalf and whether attorneys should act jointly or independently, ensuring your interests remain protected.
We arrange the signing and witnessing of your Power of Attorney in accordance with statutory requirements. This includes ensuring the necessary certification is completed correctly so the document can be registered without delay.
We handle the registration process with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) on your behalf. Registration is required before the document can be used, and we ensure all documentation is submitted accurately and efficiently.