Guardianship and intervention orders: forms

Overview

You can apply to become an adult's 'guardian' if they lack mental capacity  due to mental illness, learning disability, dementia or a related condition, or an inability to communicate.

As guardian, you'll be authorised by a sheriff court to make decisions on their behalf. These decisions might be long-term, or specific and time-limited.

Read the full guidance before you apply.

Types of decision you can make

You can apply to make decisions about a person's:

• health and personal welfare only (welfare guardianship) - you'll make decisions about medical treatment and how the person is looked after 
• property and financial affairs only (financial guardianship) - you 'll do things like pay the person's bills 
• a combination of both

Guardianship order

You should apply for a guardianship order if someone needs long-term help with decisions.

Intervention order

If you are applying to carry out a specific action or actions only, then you should apply for an intervention order.

Who can apply

Welfare guardian

Any individual can apply to be a welfare guardian. The chief social work officer of a local council can also apply where no one else is applying and welfare guardianship is necessary.

Financial guardian

Any individual can apply to be a financial guardian provided they can satisfy the court of their suitability.

The local council has a duty to apply for financial guardianship where necessary and nobody else is willing to apply.

How to apply for a guardianship or intervention order

You make a summary application to the sheriff court in the area where the person lives. Many people get a solicitor to make the application for them.

There is no standard form but you can get a basic application template in appendix 3 of the above guidance. The process is the same for guardianship and intervention orders.

Your application must be accompanied by supporting information and you should use the forms below to provide this. The forms needed will depend on the type of decisions you are applying to make.

Welfare powers only or combined with financial powers

To apply for a guardianship or intervention order to make decisions about someone's welfare only or both welfare and financial issues, you will need to provide the following in addition to your summary application:

• two medical reports (AWI 1) - get the person's doctor and another medical professional to fill these in (if the person has a mental disorder then one of the forms must be filled in by someone qualified to diagnose a mental disorder, sometimes called a section 22 doctor).

If applying for a guardianship order you should also provide one of the following:

• local authority mental health officer report (AWI 2) if the person has a mental disorder
• local authority chief social work officer report (AWI 5) if the person is unable to communicate e.g.due to advanced dementia or a severe head injury

If you are applying for an intervention order then you should provide one of the following:

• local authority mental health officer report (AWI 4) if the person has a mental disorder
• local authority chief social work officer report (AWI 7) if the person is unable to communicate e.g. due to advanced dementia or a severe head injury

You can find the forms you need below.

Property and financial powers only (financial guardianship)

To apply to make long-term (guardianship order) or specific (intervention order) financial decisions on someone else's behalf you will need to provide:

• two medical reports (AWI 1) - get the person's doctor and another medical professional to fill these in

If you are applying for a guardianship order you shoud also provide a report by a person with sufficient knowledge to comment on the adult's financial affairs and their ability to manage these (AWI 8). If applying for an intervention order, the relevant form is AWI 10.

You can find the forms you need below.

Renewal of guardianship application

Some guardianship orders are granted permanently and do not need to be renewed, but most are awarded for a fixed period of time. Before that period ends, you will need to apply to renew the order if you want this to continue.

To renew an existing guardianship order covering health and welfare powers only, you will need to provide one medical report (AWI 1) and either one of:

• local authority mental health officer report (AWI 3) if the person has a mental disorder 
• local authority chief social worker report (AWI 6) if the person is unable to communicate

If you are applying to renew financial powers in addition to welfare powers, or financial powers only you will also need to provide a report by the Public Guardian (Scotland) giving an opinion on the conduct of the guardianship to date and the continuing suitability of the guardian (AWI 9).

You can find the forms you need below.

What happens next

Once appointed, your actions will be supervised. The local council has a duty to supervise welfare guardians. The Office of the Public Guardian has a duty to supervise financial guardians.

Forms

Further information

The law that sets out the role and responsibilities of guardians is the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000.