GUIDES
High value does not change the statutory capacity test. Identify the real transaction, its significant consequences, available professional advice and support, and assess the person’s decision-making abilities against that information.
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Re Beaney [1978] 1 WLR 770.
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High value does not change the statutory capacity test. Identify the real transaction, its significant consequences, available professional advice and support, and assess the person’s decision-making abilities against that information. This guide covers the relevant evidence, support, process and limits in England and Wales.
High value does not change the statutory capacity test. Identify the real transaction, its significant consequences, available professional advice and support, and assess the person’s decision-making abilities against that information.
High value does not change the statutory capacity test. Identify the real transaction, its significant consequences, available professional advice and support, and assess the person’s decision-making abilities against that information. The assessment should identify what the person can do with support and keep capacity separate from legal authority, best interests or other professional decisions.
Identify the transaction, assets, amount, purpose and material time. Separate it from any wider question about managing affairs or conducting proceedings. High value alone is not an inability and does not automatically require a particular service tier.
For an MCA matter, presume capacity, take all practicable steps to support the person and respect an unwise choice. Assess understanding, retention, use or weighing and communication by any means. If an inability is identified, explain whether impairment or disturbance of the mind or brain causes it. Use any distinct legal test required by the particular decision.
Explain the significant costs, risks, alternatives, effect on future needs and available advice in an accessible way. The person need not reproduce professional expertise. Ask whether they can use the information and support to make this decision.
Useful evidence may include the nature and value of assets, investment or property documents, risks, alternatives, tax or inheritance context, business or trust interests, professional advice and any concerns about undue influence or financial abuse.
Risk factors should be recorded without being treated as shortcuts to incapacity. Relevant issues may include family conflict, urgency, financial pressure, inconsistent instructions, communication barriers, safeguarding concerns, dependency on others, or a history of cognitive impairment. The report should separate risk from the legal question of capacity.
A useful guide or report should identify the decision, relevant information and evidence, explain the support provided, and show how the conclusion follows. Readers should also be able to find the applicable official source and understand any limits or uncertainty.
Use legal, financial, tax or valuation advice to explain the real proposal without requiring the person to become an expert. If another person will act, check their authority separately. A capacity opinion does not approve the strategy, substitute for regulated advice or authorise an attorney’s or deputy’s transaction.
Define the decision and time, provide appropriate support and explain the evidence and reasoning. Report retained abilities as well as difficulty and acknowledge uncertainty. The opinion does not confer authority on relatives or settle every related legal or professional issue.
It depends on the exact decision, the evidence available, the purpose of the report and whether the matter is family-led, professional, solicitor-led or court-related. An independent, decision-specific assessment matched to those factors carries the most weight.
No. A diagnosis does not establish lack of capacity. For a decision under the Mental Capacity Act, consider the relevant information and practicable support, then assess understanding, retention, use or weighing and communication by any means. Any inability must be caused by an impairment of, or disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain. Will-making has its own legal test.
Explain the actual transaction, evidence, support and limits, with a reasoned conclusion. Formal assessment may be appropriate before a significant decision where genuine doubt remains or the process requires it; it is not compulsory for every valuable transaction and cannot guarantee protection from challenge.
The related guides below provide further explanation of the decisions, evidence and legal processes discussed here.
Explain the transaction and significant risks in accessible form, with the relevant professional advice available. Ask for additional assessment work only where the decision, evidence or support needs justify it.
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