If ill health or an accident means you can’t make decisions for yourself, who do you want to make them for you?
Did you know that without legal authority your next of kin can’t make any financial or welfare decisions for you, even if an accident or illness means you can’t make decisions for yourself? Every year thousands of people across Scotland lose capacity, it could be an accident, a head injury, a stroke or an ongoing progressive illness. The only way you can plan for your future is to appoint someone with Power of Attorney.
A Power of Attorney is intended to ensure that your financial affairs and personal welfare can be dealt with/protected in the event of you being unable to act on your behalf. No one has an automatic right to do this including your next of kin. Anyone over the age of 16 can grant a Power of Attorney – accidents or illness can occur at any age. Crucially, a Power of Attorney must be set up and registered before it is needed, while the ‘granter’ is capable of making their own decisions. At Cullen Kilshaw we advise our clients to make arrangements earlier in life in order to avoid the difficulties and expense of navigating the court system at what will be an already challenging time when someone reaches the stage of being unable to look after their finances and welfare themselves.