Management plan

The management plan lets you tell us how you intend to manage the adult’s estate for their benefit. We need this no later than 3 months after the date we registered your appointment. The letter sent to you along with your certificate of appointment will advise of the due by date. If you prefer, you can send the management plan along with the inventory of estate. The information that you provide will allow the Public Guardian to supervise your appointment.

You should note that until we approve your management plan the powers that you can use are limited to:

• investigating the extent of the adult's estate; and
• making any payments that are necessary to provide for the adult's day to day needs

There are occasions when the management plan will not be required. This will only apply where Sheriff has directed so in the court order. The Public Guardian has no power to dispense with the management plan.

What information is needed?

The management plan is looking for specific information about the adult’s day to day needs e.g. utilities, mortgage, rent, care costs, hobbies and holidays. You can also use the form to tell us about what you propose to do longer-term about the adult’s property and / or finances. You will need to take financial advice as how best to manage the adult’s property and finances if they have more than £50,000 of moveable assets e.g. bank / building society accounts.

You might want to think about making provisions for gifts that the adult would have been in the habit of giving e.g. for occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries etc. For anything over and above general gifting a more detailed gift application form can be made to us.

We provide guidance and a form. If you have difficulty opening the following documents please follow our guidance.
Gift application form and guidance notes

You should note that until we approve your management plan the powers that you can use are limited to:

• investigating the extent of the adult's estate; and
• making any payments that are necessary to provide for the adult's day to day needs.

If you need to do anything more than this before the management plan is approved please contact us.

We provide guidance to help you draft the management plan and worked examples are also available.  If you need any further help to complete the form, we will be happy to assist.  It would be helpful if you have your PG reference handy when contacting us. This can be found in our letters to you.

Is there a fee?

The Public Guardian charges a combined fee for checking and approving your inventory of estate and management plan. The fee can be paid from the adult's estate. The amount payable will depend on the total sum of the moveable assets e.g. bank / building society accounts belonging to the adult. The letter we send with your certificate includes the Public Guardian's fee schedule. In some circumstances we can waive the fee. You will need to complete a fee exemption form and send this to us.

What happens when the management plan is approved?

We will write to you to confirm that the management plan is approved. We will also return any supporting evidence that you sent us. You should keep this information in a safe place as we may ask to see it again e.g. for the annual review. Now that the management plan is approved you can use the full extent of the powers that you were given. You must keep receipts for significant purchases and records of decisions that you make on behalf of the adult. The Code of Practice provided by the Scottish Government offers further guidance on this.

We will be in touch with you shortly before your annual review is due to tell you what you need to do next.