Intervention Order Scotland: When You Need a One-Off Court Decision

What an Intervention Order Actually Does

When an adult in Scotland lacks the mental capacity to make a specific decision — selling a house, moving into a care home, accessing a particular bank account — and no power of attorney is in place, the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 provides an intervention order as a targeted alternative to full guardianship.

An intervention order authorises someone to carry out one specific act, or a defined set of related acts, on behalf of the adult. It is limited to that intervention rather than creating broad ongoing authority. The Sheriff may require a Bond of Caution. Financial interventions are monitored by the OPG; welfare interventions are monitored by the local authority social work department.

This makes it fundamentally different from a guardianship order, which grants broad, ongoing authority and comes with continuing court oversight.

When an Intervention Order Makes Sense

The order is designed for situations where the decision is urgent but narrow in scope:

• Property sale: the adult owns a house that needs to be sold to fund care home fees, but cannot sign the conveyancing documents.
• Care home placement: a specific care home has a place available and the adult cannot consent to the move.
• Financial release: a bank or building society is holding funds that need to be transferred, but there is no POA registered and the amounts exceed what the OPG's Access to Funds scheme will cover.
• Medical consent: a particular medical procedure requires consent and no welfare attorney exists.

If the family anticipates needing to make multiple decisions over time, guardianship may be the more practical route than applying for sequential intervention orders.

The Application Process

Intervention orders are granted by the local Sheriff Court under the Adults with Incapacity Act 2000, following a process similar to guardianship:

1. Petition the Sheriff Court: the applicant (any individual with an interest in the adult's welfare) files a summary application setting out the specific decision needed, why the adult cannot make it, and why an intervention order is proportionate.
2. Two medical reports: two independent medical reports confirming the adult lacks capacity for the specific decision.
3. Court process: the Sheriff Court considers the application and notifies the relevant parties as required.
4. Safeguards and monitoring: the Sheriff may require a Bond of Caution; financial interventions are monitored by the OPG and welfare interventions by the local authority social work department.
5. Court decision: the Sheriff considers the evidence and whether the intervention is proportionate before granting or refusing the order.
6. OPG registration: the granted order is registered with the OPG Scotland in Falkirk, and the intervenor can then act.

Costs

The cost depends on the application and any solicitor used. Budget for:

• OPG registration fee: £110 (from 1 April 2026)
• Court, medical-report, and solicitor costs: the application requires two independent medical reports.
• Bond of Caution: the Sheriff may require one.

It can cost less than a full guardianship application because it is narrower, but the Sheriff may require a Bond of Caution. Financial interventions are monitored by the OPG; welfare interventions are monitored by the local authority social work department.

Intervention Order vs Guardianship vs POA

The three mechanisms sit on a spectrum of scope and cost:

• Power of attorney: set up before capacity is lost, cheapest (£99 OPG registration + optional solicitor drafting), widest flexibility, no court involvement.
• Intervention order: court-granted after capacity is lost, covers one specific decision, with costs depending on the application and possible Bond of Caution and monitoring.
• Guardianship order: court-granted after capacity is lost, covers broad ongoing decision-making, highest cost; financial guardians submit annual accounts to the OPG, while welfare guardians are supervised by local social work.

The key lesson is timing. A continuing power of attorney set up while someone still has capacity costs a fraction of what any court-based alternative costs afterwards. If you are reading this because a family member has already lost capacity, an intervention order may be the most proportionate step for a single urgent decision — but for ongoing needs, guardianship is likely inevitable.

Getting Ahead of It

Our Scotland Power of Attorney Toolkit walks through the full process of setting up a continuing and welfare POA while capacity still exists — including the OPG registration process, the Schedule 1 capacity certificate, and the EPOAR digital submission. Every intervention order application is evidence that a POA should have been in place earlier.

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