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Author and Publication
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Citation
39 Essex Chambers, Mental Capacity Guidance Note: Carrying out and recording capacity assessments.
Copywright
Copyright © 2026 Nellie Supports Ltd. All rights reserved.
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What Is Relevant Information in a Capacity Assessment?
Relevant information is the hinge of every capacity assessment: the specific facts a person must be able to understand, retain, use and weigh for the particular decision, including the realistic options and the reasonably foreseeable consequences of each. The courts have defined the relevant information for many recurring decisions, residence, care, contact and finances among them, and they warn against setting the bar too high: it is the salient information, not every detail an expert would know. This guide explains how relevant information is identified, the recurring decision types and the errors that make reports vulnerable.
Why relevant information is the foundation
An assessment can only test whether a person can understand, retain, use and weigh the information that actually matters for the decision. If the wrong information is used, the whole assessment is unreliable. Identifying the relevant information correctly is therefore the first substantive task, and it shapes the questions asked and the conclusion reached.
How the law defines it
Under section 3 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the information relevant to a decision includes information about the reasonably foreseeable consequences of deciding one way or another, or of failing to make the decision. The courts have treated this as the salient factors a person needs to grasp, not an exhaustive technical brief.
Tailoring it to the specific decision
Relevant information differs sharply between decisions. The information needed to decide where to live is not the information needed to make a will, manage finances or consent to treatment. The assessor must work out, for this person and this decision, which factors are genuinely material and which are peripheral, and assess against those.
Real-world consequences must be included
Relevant information is not limited to abstract facts. It includes the practical, real-world consequences of the decision, such as the effect on the person's care, safety, finances, relationships or living arrangements. Court of Protection judgments have stressed that leaving out these consequences produces an assessment that answers the wrong question.
Salient factors, not every detail
A person does not need to understand every detail to have capacity. The test is whether they can grasp the salient factors, the points that genuinely bear on the decision. Overloading the assessment with fine detail can set the bar too high and wrongly suggest incapacity, just as omitting key consequences can set it too low.
The danger of generic templates
Using a standard list of relevant information across every case is a common and serious flaw. The same template applied to a residence decision, a financial decision and a will produces assessments that do not fit the actual choices the person faces. Relevant information should be drafted for the case in front of you, not copied across.
Examples across different decisions
For a decision about where to live, relevant information includes the available options, the support each offers and the risks of each. For a gift, it includes the size of the gift relative to the estate and its effect on the person. For treatment, it includes the nature, purpose, benefits and risks of the options. Each list is different.
Recording the relevant information
A defensible assessment sets out, in writing, the specific relevant information identified for the decision and why. It then tests the person against that information and records the result. This makes the reasoning transparent and allows others to see whether the right information was used, which is essential if the assessment is later challenged.
Key takeaway
Relevant information is the material a person needs to make a particular decision, including its real-world consequences. Identifying it correctly and recording it explicitly is the difference between an assessment that answers the right question and one that does not. A generic checklist is rarely good enough.
Frequently asked questions
Who decides what information is relevant?
The law does, shaped by the courts for recurring decision types, and the assessor applies it to the person's actual situation. It is not for family members or professionals to inflate the list until the person fails.
Does the person have to understand everything?
No. The person needs the salient points, not expert-level detail. The courts have repeatedly said the bar must not be set higher for people with impairments than for anyone else making the same decision.
Why do reports get relevant information wrong?
The commonest failure is assessing the wrong information: capacity in general rather than the decision in question, or a list of information no ordinary person would be held to. A strong report states the relevant information it used, so any reader can check the bar was set lawfully.
Related mental capacity assessment pages
These internal links help readers move from this guide to the most relevant Nellie Supports service page, assessment option or legal framework page.
Unsure what the assessment should cover?
Nellie Supports provides independent, decision-specific mental capacity assessments across England and Wales through a permanent employed team of registered professionals, with a same working day response to every enquiry and every report peer reviewed before delivery. Call 0333 987 5118 or visit the mental capacity assessment service page.