Hi, was wondering if anyone knew how long on average it was taking to get guardianship in place the now for transition age folks with a learning disability so that the family can access option one fir SDS?
Hi there,
Many thanks for your query. As you will know, there are 2 different types of Guardianship that you can apply for, Financial and Welfare. I am assuming that you might just be starting to think about applying for either or both types of Guardianship, so apologies if I am giving you any information you might already know about.
If you are at the beginning of the process then it would be important to speak to a Solicitor who specialises in Guardianship applications. They could then outline the steps involved and the likely timescale for the process as well. I am aware for example, that some Local Authorities might have a backlog of undertaking Mental Health Officer Reports and the Courts themselves might have their own backlog, so speaking to a Solicitor who is up to date with the current situation might be very helpful, especially for your local area. I am aware for example, that you can start an application process for someone up to 3 months before their 16th birthday if that was relevant to your circumstances.
Of course, if something happened that required some form of intervention regarding a specific issue or decision for the person you’re thinking of, it may be possible to look at applying for an Intervention Order if that was required.
If you are making an application for Guardianship but the person this refers to is in need of on-going support in their life, this should not prevent that support from being arranged or put in place in the meantime. It might be that you could arrange support under Option 2 or 3 of Self Directed Support, rather than under Option 1. Once the Guardianship Order(s) were in place, you could then look at rearranging that support under Option 1 if that was helpful.
I’m sorry that I can’t give you a definite answer regarding the application timescale. In many ways it depends how quickly you can appoint a Solicitor to support you to make the application, how quickly the necessary Reports that are required can be completed and submitted to Court and how quickly the Sheriff Court can allocate time for the case. Of course once that process is completed there might still be a couple of weeks before you receive the actual Certificates issued by the Office of the Public Guardian. So you are likely to be looking at a number of months before the process is fully completed.
If you needed any further information or advice, the Office for the Public Guardian are very helpful. For Guardianship & Intervention Order enquiries you can contact them on:
Tel: 01324 678396
Email: opgorders@scotcourts.gov.uk
Website: Contact us
Many thanks,
Mark
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Guardianship are taking do long mine ran out Dec still waiting for the usual checks in all should be around a year but due to backlog even longer.