The Office of the Public Guardian submitted a paper to the Scottish Government last year, setting out difficulties that currently exist with the application process for guardianship.
According to the Public Guardian, the current system is under increasing pressure and is at risk of collapsing. In its paper, the Public Guardian proposed moving to ‘graded guardianship’, which would consist of three levels – level one being for low value and non-contentious estates and level three being for the most complex matters.
Under this proposal, the Public Guardian would authorise level one and two applications, but more complex matters would continue to a matter for Shrieval judgment.
The Public Guardian believes this would significantly reduce the number of cases going to court, and allow the system operate more quickly and efficiently.
The Scottish Government has now agreed to set up a working group later this year to consider these proposals more carefully.