Mental capacity assessment services
Mental Capacity Assessments
Court-ready, decision-specific mental capacity assessments across England and Wales, delivered by a permanent, employed multidisciplinary team. Choose the decision you need assessed below.
Court-ready and decision-specific, across England and Wales.
At a glance
Decisions covered
Finances, property, care, residence, litigation, marriage, wills and more
Legal framework
Mental Capacity Act 2005
Format
Face to face or remote
Report
Court-ready and peer reviewed, within 5 working days of the assessment visit
Coverage
England and Wales
11,000+
Assessments completed
England and Wales
National coverage
Peer reviewed
Every report
Full-time employed
Multidisciplinary team
Plain-English explanation
What is a mental capacity assessment?
A mental capacity assessment is a decision-specific and time-specific process used to determine whether a person can make a particular decision for themselves. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the assessor considers whether the person can understand, retain, use or weigh the relevant information, and communicate their decision. A person can only be found to lack capacity where an impairment of, or disturbance in, the functioning of the mind or brain causes their inability to decide. It is not a general test of intelligence, memory or diagnosis, and every practicable step must first be taken to support the person to make the decision.
Capacity is never assessed in general. It is assessed for one decision at one point in time, which is why each decision below has its own dedicated assessment rather than a single generic service.
A person may be able to manage routine spending but not a property sale, or be able to decide where they live but not how their finances are run. The assessment tests the actual decision in question.
An unwise decision is not the same as lacking capacity
The assessor does not decide whether the person is making the best choice. The issue is whether the person can make the relevant decision, not whether others agree with it.
Find Your Mental Capacity Assessment in 60 Seconds
Not sure which assessment you need? Our quick finder helps you identify the right mental capacity assessment for your situation. Answer a few simple questions about the decision type, and we'll recommend the most appropriate service. Or browse all assessment types below.
Money and property
5 assessments
Capacity for financial and property decisions, from managing money to buying, selling or transferring a home.
Capacity to Manage Finances
Independent, decision-specific assessment of capacity to manage money, property and financial affairs.
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Capacity to enter into a contract
For entering into a specific contract or agreement, such as a settlement, loan, guarantee or tenancy.
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Capacity to buy, sell or transfer property
For a specific property decision, such as selling a home, buying, transferring or gifting.
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Capacity for equity release
For a specific equity release or lifetime mortgage decision secured against property.
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Capacity to sever a joint tenancy
For changing property ownership from joint tenants to tenants in common.
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Wills, gifts and probate
4 assessments
Capacity for making a will, giving a lifetime gift, or providing capacity evidence for probate.
Testamentary capacity assessment
For making or amending a Will, applying the Banks v Goodfellow test.
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Statutory will assessment package
Court-ready evidence package for a Court of Protection statutory will application.
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PA14 probate capacity assessment
For an executor or applicant who may lack capacity to deal with a grant and administer an estate.
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Capacity to Make Lifetime Gifts
For a specific gift or transfer, such as money, property or other substantial lifetime giving.
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Court of Protection and attorney
7 assessments
Capacity evidence for Court of Protection applications, deputyship, attorney and trustee decisions.
Capacity to grant a Lasting Power of Attorney
Where the question is making an LPA, not day-to-day finances.
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COP3 mental capacity assessment
For Court of Protection deputyship applications.
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Capacity to instruct a solicitor
For giving valid instructions to a solicitor on a specific legal matter, not conducting proceedings.
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Deputyship discharge capacity assessment
For someone who may have regained capacity, where a deputyship may be discharged, reviewed or varied.
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Capacity to Act as a Trustee
For continuing to act as a trustee, assessed against the duties the role requires.
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Capacity to Retire as a Trustee
For the decision to step down from a trusteeship, including signing a deed of retirement.
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Court of Protection property sale evidence
Best interests, care needs and residence capacity evidence to support a deputy's application to sell a property.
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Litigation and disputes
3 assessments
Capacity to take part in legal proceedings, and independent review of an existing capacity report.
Personal injury mental capacity
Decision-specific capacity evidence for personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
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Capacity to litigate assessment
For conducting legal proceedings, including the Certificate as to Capacity to Conduct Proceedings.
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Critical review of a capacity report
An independent second opinion on an existing third-party mental capacity report.
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Health, welfare and personal decisions
9 assessments
Capacity for decisions about care and support, where to live, contact and other personal matters.
Capacity to decide where to live
For a decision about where a person should live, such as home with care or a care home.
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Capacity to decide about care and support
For a decision about the care, support or supervision a person receives.
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Capacity to Sign a Prenuptial Agreement
For entering a prenuptial agreement, including what it means for both parties.
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Capacity to Divorce
For the decision to end a marriage or civil partnership, distinct from conducting the proceedings.
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Capacity for Contact
For decisions about contact with a specific person, often where safeguarding concerns exist.
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Capacity to Marry
For the decision to marry or enter a civil partnership, including what marriage means.
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Capacity for Health and Welfare Decisions
For decisions about health, treatment and personal welfare, assessed decision by decision.
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Capacity to Consent to Sexual Relations
For consent to sexual relations, often alongside safeguarding or Court of Protection matters.
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Capacity to Use Social Media
For decisions about social media and online contact, including privacy and online risk.
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Enhanced and specialist
2 assessments
Assessments for complex, disputed or historical matters that need additional depth.
Retrospective mental capacity
Court-ready opinion on whether a person had capacity for a past decision, from the records.
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Enhanced mental capacity assessment
A deeper, multi-layered assessment for complex, high-value or contested cases.
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Standard or enhanced
Which level of assessment do you need?
Whichever decision is being assessed, there are two levels of service, matched to the complexity of the situation and the level of legal risk.
Assessment option | Suitable for | What is included |
|---|---|---|
Standard Assessment | Most capacity questions, where the outcome is not expected to be contested | Single decision-specific assessment visit; two-stage Mental Capacity Act 2005 test applied in full; court-facing report structure; peer review by a second qualified professional |
Enhanced Assessment (EMCA) | Contested, high-value or high-risk matters | Two-stage assessment process; extended psychometric input; structured vulnerability and undue influence enquiry; Care Act informed needs analysis; detailed psychometric appendix |
Court-specific instruction | Court of Protection or other proceedings | Required form, questions or expert-report structure agreed at instruction |
Enquiry and scoping
We identify the specific decision in question, the circumstances and any deadline, and confirm the right assessment, the fee and the timescale in writing before instruction.
Records and background
We review the relevant background, which may include medical records, financial or care context, prior assessments and any safeguarding or legal correspondence.
The assessment
A qualified assessor meets the person at home, in a care setting, in hospital or remotely, using real examples from their own circumstances and taking practicable steps to support their decision-making.
Peer review
A second qualified professional reviews the report for reasoning, evidence and structure before it leaves the practice.
Report delivery
Your report is delivered securely within 5 working days of the assessment visit, with follow-up clarification available for families, solicitors and other instructing parties.
What happens next
How an assessment works
Deliverable
Inside a Nellie Supports report
Every report, whichever decision was assessed, follows a structure a court, solicitor, bank or public body can scrutinise: evidence, analysis and conclusion in a traceable line.
Instruction and the specific decision assessed
Documents and records reviewed
The relevant information for that decision
Practicable steps taken to support decision-making
Assessment findings and observations
Analysis against the Mental Capacity Act 2005 test
Conclusion and professional opinion
Limitations, declarations and appendices
Standard Assessment
£600 + VAT
Single decision-specific assessment visit; two-stage Mental Capacity Act 2005 test applied in full; court-facing report structure; peer review by a second qualified professional.
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Enhanced Assessment (EMCA)
£3,500 + VAT
Two-stage assessment process; extended psychometric input; structured vulnerability and undue influence enquiry; Care Act informed needs analysis; detailed psychometric appendix.
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Transparent pricing
Standard or Enhanced assessment, which is right?
The same two levels apply across every assessment in this cluster. For most situations a standard assessment provides clear, proportionate and defensible evidence. Where the outcome is likely to be contested, or the sums and risks are high, the enhanced service adds depth and defensibility.
Who we work with
For solicitors, deputies and other professionals
Instruction is straightforward and the evidential standard is consistent whichever decision is being assessed:
Scope confirmed in writing
The decision to be assessed, the fee and the timescale are confirmed in writing before instruction.
A traceable evidential line
Evidence, analysis and conclusion are set out in a structure a court, bank or public body can scrutinise.
Peer review as standard
A second qualified professional reviews every report before it leaves the practice.
Follow-up clarification
Clarification for instructing parties is included after the report is delivered.
For families
A clear fee, stated before instruction and confirmed in writing, with VAT and any travel set out up front. The assessment is arranged around the person, at home, in a care setting, in hospital or remotely, and your report is delivered within 5 working days of the assessment visit, in a form banks, solicitors and the Court of Protection can rely on.
For professionals
A permanent, employed multidisciplinary team, not an ad hoc associate or referral-panel model: Social Work England and Social Care Wales registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist (BPS). Every report is peer reviewed by a second qualified professional and structured for scrutiny, with reports relied on in the Court of Protection, the Family Court and the Court of Appeal.
Provider evidence
Why choose Nellie Supports for your mental capacity assessment
England and Wales' largest identified specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice, with over 11,000 formal assessments and reports completed by a permanent full-time multidisciplinary team.
Why instruct Nellie Supports
Employed, not outsourced
A permanent full-time multidisciplinary team, not an ad hoc associate, contractor or referral-panel model.
Over 11,000 assessments
Formal assessments and reports completed across England and Wales.
Peer review as standard
Every report is reviewed by a second qualified professional before delivery.
Registered professionals
Social Work England and Social Care Wales registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist (BPS).
Court-facing structure
Reports relied on in the Court of Protection, the Family Court and the Court of Appeal.
Independence
An independent opinion with no stake in the outcome, which is exactly what gives the evidence its value.
The situation
Miss T. held Lasting Power of Attorney for her mother. The LPA had been drafted so that it would only take effect when her mother lost capacity, which meant the attorney needed formal evidence that her mother could no longer manage her own finances before banks and other organisations would recognise her authority.
The barrier
Miss T. first approached her mother's GP, who confirmed they had observed some memory decline but declined to provide a formal capacity report, explaining that they did not carry out decision-specific assessments for LPA activation. She was advised to contact the local authority, but their adult social care team explained they could only assess in safeguarding cases or where statutory intervention was required, not for private LPA evidence.
How Nellie Supports helped
Facing pressure from banks and local authorities requesting proof before they would recognise her legal authority, Miss T. contacted Nellie Supports. The same day, our assessment coordinator gathered the background details, reviewed the LPA terms and obtained her mother's consent to be assessed. A registered social worker then completed a decision-specific assessment of her mother's capacity to manage her property and financial affairs, applying the two-stage test in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Why it mattered
This case demonstrates how private, court-compliant capacity assessments can bridge the gap when statutory services are unable to assist. For attorneys under LPAs that only take effect on loss of capacity, timely, functional evidence is essential to avoid financial risk and administrative deadlock.
Details have been changed to protect confidentiality and shared with consent.
In practice
How this works in practice
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does a mental capacity assessment cost?
A standard decision-specific assessment is £600 plus VAT, fixed and confirmed in writing before instruction. An Enhanced Assessment, for contested, high-value or high-risk matters, is £3,500 plus VAT. Travel is charged at £40 per hour and confirmed before booking.
How quickly will we receive the report?
Your report is delivered within 5 working days of the assessment visit. If your matter is urgent, tell us at the enquiry stage and we will advise on the earliest available appointment.
Which assessment do we need?
It depends on the decision that needs to be made, not on the person. Tell us what the decision is, for example selling a house, making a will, managing a bank account or conducting proceedings, and we will confirm the right assessment at enquiry.
Can our GP not do this?
GPs can assess capacity but rarely have the time for a decision-specific assessment, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 does not require the assessor to be a doctor. Our assessors carry out and record decision-specific assessments to court expectations every week.
Does the person need a formal diagnosis?
No. The two-stage test requires evidence of an impairment of, or disturbance in, the functioning of the mind or brain, which may be permanent or temporary, but a formal medical diagnosis is not required.
Can someone have capacity for some decisions but not others?
Yes, and this is common. A person may manage everyday spending confidently while lacking capacity for complex decisions about property, investments or large sums, and the reverse can also be true.
Where do you cover?
Assessments are carried out across England and Wales, at home, in care settings, in hospital or remotely where appropriate.
Who will carry out the assessment?
A registered professional from our permanent, employed team, which includes Social Work England and Social Care Wales registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist (BPS). Every report is peer reviewed by a second qualified professional before delivery.
How solicitors should challenge a capacity report
The structural flaws that undermine capacity reports, and how instructing solicitors can challenge reasoning, evidence and the MCA 2005 legal test.
Retrospective testamentary capacity and disputed wills
Guide to retrospective testamentary capacity and disputed wills, including historical records, witness evidence and Banks v Goodfellow.
Trustee capacity where property or land is being sold
Understand trustee capacity where property or land is being sold, including trustee duties, decision-specific evidence and Court of Protection risks.
LPA capacity assessments for solicitors and families
LPA capacity assessments for solicitors and families, including donor understanding, fluctuating capacity, evidence and challenge prevention.
Mental capacity assessments for dementia
Guide to mental capacity assessments for dementia in England and Wales, including decision-specific evidence, MCA principles and when a formal assessment may
Supporting guidance
Guides across mental capacity
NHS Continuing Healthcare
Eligibility checks, assessments, appeals and retrospective claims.
Expert capacity reports and reviews
Independent expert reports and critical review of existing capacity evidence.
Lasting Power of Attorney services
Certificate provider services and capacity evidence for LPA decisions.