Legal advice for care

You may need legal help for some aspects of care, including:

• setting up a power of attorney
• guardianship
• acting as an executor or making a will

There's lots of advice you can get, and there may be legal aid available to help with costs if you choose to use a solicitor.

Advice about legal matters

Various organisations can give you advice on your legal rights.

• Visit Citizens Advice Scotland for information online.

• Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau for face-to-face advice.

• Phone Age Scotland on 0800 4 70 80 90 for specific information and advice for your situation, if you're an older person.

• For consumer issues, like contracts, use the Citizens Advice Consumer Service or phone 03454 04 05 06 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).

• You may get free legal advice if you're in a trade union or this is covered within the terms of a financial product you have.

Find a solicitor

If you need legal advice from a solicitor, the Law Society of Scotland represents all practising solicitors in Scotland and has a duty towards the public interest. All practising solicitors in Scotland are members and must meet the society's standards.

Find a solicitor on the Law Society Scotland website, or call 0131 226 7411.

You may incur costs when engaging a solicitor.

Legal aid

There are two kinds of legal aid available for care related issues:

• advice and assistance
• civil legal aid

Advice and assistance helps pay for advice from a solicitor on any matter of Scots law – civil or criminal.

The solicitor can:

• advise you on whether you have a legal case to take forward
• negotiate with the other person or agency you're in dispute with
• advise you whether to apply for legal aid to take the matter to court
• apply on your behalf for civil legal aid

Civil legal aid helps pay for your solicitor to act for you in court. You have to qualify for civil legal aid and may need to pay something towards the costs.

Some people need only advice and assistance, others need only civil legal aid, and some need both. Many people start the legal process with advice and assistance, and then move on to civil legal aid. If you don't qualify for advice and assistance, you may still qualify for civil legal aid, and vice versa. You can ask your solicitor about this.

Find out about legal aid and how to apply.