On some occasions you might ask for a professional person to ‘assess your capacity to understand what you are doing’ before you sign an important document such as a Will, an Enduring Power of Attorney, or before you make an important decision like gifting property to a relative.

If you do this, you are obtaining good protection against later claims by disgruntled third parties that the document you signed, or the decision that you made, is invalid because you did not have the capacity to understand what you were doing at the time you did it.

It is time consuming and expensive to ‘go back in time’ and argue about your capacity, especially if someone has contrary evidence about you.  That is why allegations about ‘lack of capacity’ often end up in Court, so that a Judge can hear all of the conflicting evidence and decide.

When you invest in a capacity assessment your Lawyer and Doctor will carry out the tests that the court considers relevant in determining whether or not a person had capacity to understand what they are doing, and they do so at the time you sign your documents.  Completing this process will assist your Lawyer and your Doctor to give much more useful evidence on your behalf should they be asked to do so in future.

Examples of occasions when you might ask for a professional assessment of your capacity to understand a document, or decision, include:-

If you are:-

·         In hospital, or nursing care.

·         Taking high dosages of pain relief (or other strong medication).

·         Undergoing intensive treatment, like chemotherapy.

·         Elderly, regardless of your health.

·         Diagnosed with an illness affecting the brain, such as dementia.

·         Suffering from an illness which is psychological or deeply emotional.

·         Dealing with severe stress, loss, or depression, and you need to prepare and sign important documents in a hurry.

·         Worried that your memory is slipping.

·         Concerned that someone will later claim that you were ‘already starting to lose capacity’ at the time you prepared your documents.

 

It is usual to involve both your Lawyer, and your Doctor, in the process of testing whether you properly understand what you are about to do.

The process can be tedious, even intrusive, and will involve extra cost. However it is a very prudent step if you are about to make a big decision.

Your Lawyer or Doctor may themselves ask you to undergo capacity assessment in certain circumstances, but many people choose to undergo the process voluntarily, for peace of mind.