GUIDES
PA14 must be completed by someone within the professional categories listed by HMCTS. Being described as an independent capacity assessor does not itself establish eligibility.
Only professionals within HMCTS’s published PA14 categories may complete the certificate. These include a registered medical practitioner, psychiatrist, approved mental health professional, social worker, psychologist or occupational therapist, or a state registered nurse or mental nurse, using the terms in the official guidance. An “independent capacity assessor” title is not itself a listed category. The eligible author must have a sound basis for the decision-specific certification.
Check both eligibility under the current HMCTS list and competence for this assessment. PA14 asks the author’s job title, qualifications and period of attendance, then a certification about the living person’s grant and estate-administration capacity under the Mental Capacity Act. Eligibility alone does not substantiate the conclusion, while assessment experience alone does not permit an unlisted signatory to complete the form.
A GP may be able to help where they have relevant knowledge and can undertake the work. Ask about availability, scope, records and any fee rather than assuming that every practice provides probate certification or can certify from a diagnosis alone. If the practice cannot assist, check another eligible professional’s suitability without assuming an independent service is necessarily quicker or stronger.
Where the person is under specialist care, old age psychiatry, neurology, a memory service, the treating clinician can be well placed to complete the form, particularly where recent cognitive assessment exists in the notes. The considerations are recency and specificity: a specialist who last saw the person a year ago, or whose knowledge is of the condition rather than of its effect on managing an estate, should be supported by a current decision-specific assessment rather than asked to stretch stale knowledge across the gap.
An independent professional can complete PA14 if they fall within the HMCTS categories and have an adequate basis for the certification. Confirm their registration, relevant experience, access to estate-role information and records, proposed assessment and fee. A separate full report is not automatically required because the GP declines, relatives disagree or the estate has substantial value; agree any additional work to address the actual uncertainty.
The certificate should be based on evidence relevant to capacity now and the actual estate role. PA14 asks how many years the professional has attended the patient; answer accurately, including where this is a new instruction. It does not prescribe a minimum period of prior treatment. The author should retain appropriate dated assessment notes and explain any limitation or material change if asked.
PA14 situations frequently involve the person's own family taking the grant in their place, and where relations are strained, the choice of author matters doubly. A certificate arranged, briefed and delivered entirely through the family member who benefits from it is vulnerable however sound its content, and an author independent of the application's beneficiaries, seeing the person alone and stating how the instruction arose, protects the certificate, the applicant and the person alike.
An eligible professional should decline to certify without an adequate basis. Ask for accessible estate-role information, current records or a decision-specific assessment where needed, and state any uncertainty or limit honestly. Family conflict may justify further enquiry but does not automatically require a commercial independent report. The registry may still seek clarification.
Start with the HMCTS eligibility list, then check relevant competence, current evidence and availability. A GP, treating professional or independent professional may be suitable if eligible. Clarify whether the agreed work includes the PA14, a separate report and replies to registry questions, and obtain probate advice on who is entitled to apply. The registry determines whether the evidence and application are sufficient.
PA14 is not open to any practitioner who can substantiate an opinion: the author must fit an HMCTS-listed professional category and have a proper basis for signing. Check eligibility, competence and relevant evidence together. A certificate cannot guarantee acceptance or resolve the separate legal question of who may take the grant.
No. A diagnosis alone does not establish incapacity. For a Mental Capacity Act decision, provide practicable support, examine understanding, retention, use or weighing and communication, then explain whether any inability is caused by an impairment or disturbance of mind or brain. The conclusion is specific to the decision and time.
Check the author’s listed professional category and registration, qualifications, basis of knowledge, relevant dated evidence and assessment of the estate role. The short form may not display all the reasoning, so the professional should retain an appropriate record. The registry may seek clarification even where the work is careful.
An independent professional assessment is the better route where the GP is unavailable or declines, where the incapacity is disputed or borderline, or where the estate's size means the certificate needs evidence of real depth behind it.
Yes. Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific. A person may be able to make some decisions independently but still need assessment for whether the person can make decisions about applying for a Grant of Representation and the subsequent administration of the estate, especially where the decision has legal, financial, welfare or court consequences.
A stronger report defines the decision, identifies the relevant information, records practicable steps, analyses the person’s own reasoning, explains causation and makes clear how the evidence supports the conclusion.
Before seeking a report, write down the exact decision, relevant date, reason for concern and intended use. Gather the documents that explain the real options and any communication needs. Check any required form or court direction, agree the scope and total fee, and clarify how missing evidence or further questions will be handled.
The related pages below explain connected decisions, evidence requirements and legal processes.
PA14 Probate Mental Capacity Assessment
Mental capacity and applying for a Grant of Representation
PA14, deputyship and Court of Protection: how they connect
PA14 evidence where property and affairs capacity is in question
Solicitor instructions and evidence in will capacity assessments
HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Form PA14: Medical certificate (probate). Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-pa14-medical-certificate-probate
Mental Capacity Act 2005, c. 9. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents
The Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/2024/contents
GOV.UK, Applying for probate. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate
Written by Ben Slater, Registered Social Worker, Founder and Managing Director of Nellie Supports
Reviewed by Kerry Slater, Director of Operations
Last reviewed: 2026-07-19
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Copyright © 2026 Nellie Supports Ltd. All rights reserved.
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This article does not constitute legal advice, clinical advice or a substitute for a decision-specific professional assessment. Where legislation, government guidance, court forms or external professional materials are referred to, those materials remain subject to their own copyright, licensing and re-use terms.
PA14 must be completed by someone within the professional categories listed by HMCTS. Being described as an independent capacity assessor does not itself establish eligibility. The sections below explain the evidence, practical steps and limits of the assessment or process.
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