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Mental Capacity Assessment
Clear, independent evidence of capacity to manage finances
Decision-specific, peer reviewed and accepted by banks, solicitors and the Court of Protection. Report in 5 working days.
A capacity to manage finances assessment is an independent assessment of whether a person can make decisions about their own money, property and financial affairs, such as bank accounts, bills, income, savings and spending, applying the two-stage test in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Nellie Supports provides these assessments across England and Wales through a permanent full-time multidisciplinary team, with every report peer reviewed before delivery.
£600 + VAT
Fixed fee, stated before instruction
5 working days
Report delivery after assessment
England and Wales
Nationwide coverage
Peer reviewed
Every report checked by a second professional
Nellie Supports is England and Wales' largest identified specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice, delivered by a permanent full-time team. Services are provided by employed, multidisciplinary professionals, not an ad hoc associate, contractor or referral-panel model. We have completed over 11,000 formal assessments and reports. This service sits alongside our full range of mental capacity assessment services.
When is a capacity to manage finances assessment needed?
Concerns about financial capacity usually arise when illness, injury or a change in behaviour raises doubt about whether someone can safely manage their own money. Families, solicitors, deputies, attorneys, banks and local authorities instruct this assessment when a Lasting Power of Attorney or deputyship application is being considered, when a bank or financial institution has questioned a customer's decision-making, when there are safeguarding concerns about financial exploitation, or when a dispute about someone's financial decisions needs independent evidence to resolve it.
Capacity is decision-specific. A person may manage everyday spending confidently while being unable to manage complex property and financial affairs, and the reverse can also be true. A formal assessment establishes precisely what the person can and cannot decide for themselves, so that any support put in place is no more restrictive than it needs to be.
The legal test we apply
We apply the two-stage test in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to the specific financial decisions in question. The functional test asks whether the person can:
Understand the information relevant to managing their finances, such as their accounts, income, outgoings and property
Retain that information long enough to make the decision
Use or weigh that information as part of making the decision
Communicate their decision by any means
Where the person cannot do one or more of these, the assessor considers whether that inability is caused by an impairment of, or disturbance in, the functioning of the mind or brain. The law requires a clear causal link between the impairment and the inability. A diagnosis alone does not mean a person lacks capacity, and no formal diagnosis is required for the test to be applied.
Key authorities: Mental Capacity Act 2005 ss 1 to 3; A Local Authority v JB [2021] UKSC 52; Re Beaney [1978] 1 WLR 770.
For the framework in full, read our guide: what is capacity to manage finances.
What the assessment involves
Enquiry and scoping
We identify the specific financial decisions in question, the circumstances and any deadline, and confirm the scope in writing before instruction.
Records and background
We review the relevant background, which may include medical records, financial context, prior assessments and any safeguarding or legal correspondence, so the assessment reflects the person's real circumstances.
The assessment visit
A qualified assessor meets the person at home, in a care setting, in hospital or remotely, using real examples from their own finances where possible 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, with follow-up clarification available for families, solicitors and other instructing parties.
Inside a Nellie Supports report
Every report follows a structure a court, solicitor, bank or public body can scrutinise: evidence, analysis and conclusion in a traceable line.
Instruction and the specific decisions assessed
Documents and records reviewed
Relevant information for managing finances
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
What it costs and what the fee includes
£600 + VAT
VAT at 20% and travel costs are not included. Enhanced: £3,500 + VAT.
Scoping and confirmation of instruction in writing
Review of relevant records and background
The decision-specific assessment visit
Structured report mapped to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 test
Peer review by a second qualified professional
Follow-up clarification for instructing parties
Travel charged at £40.00per hour
A full-time, multidisciplinary team
Nellie Supports is built on an employed, permanent team: registered social workers, a Chartered Psychologist and specialist assessors working together to one standard, with every report peer reviewed by a second qualified professional. Your assessment is never passed to an associate bank or referral panel.
The right professional for the decision
Capacity questions range from care and residence to complex cognition and prognosis. A multidisciplinary team means the discipline is matched to the decision, not to whoever is available.
One consistent standard
The team works together full time, so every assessment follows the same methodology and peer review is built into every report rather than bolted on.
Accountability you can name
Your report is signed by an employed professional who answers for their work, and the practice stands behind it.
Continuity, not hand-offs
The people who take your enquiry, carry out the assessment and review the report all work in one practice, so nothing is lost between stages.
How this works in practice
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly will we receive the report?
Your report is delivered within 5 working days of the assessment. If your matter is urgent, tell us at the enquiry stage and we will advise on the earliest available appointment.
Can our GP not do this?
GPs can assess capacity but rarely have the time for a decision-specific financial 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, using real examples from the person's own finances.
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. What matters is whether an impairment is the reason the person cannot make the specific decision.
Can someone have capacity for some financial decisions but not others?
Yes, and this is common. A person may manage everyday spending, bills and small purchases confidently while lacking capacity for complex decisions about property, investments or large sums. Our report addresses the specific decisions in question rather than giving a single blanket answer.
What happens if the assessment finds the person lacks capacity?
The report sets out exactly which decisions the person cannot make and why, which is the evidence typically needed for the next step, such as registering a Lasting Power of Attorney or applying to the Court of Protection for a deputyship. We can also carry out the COP3 assessment a deputyship application requires.
What if the answer is not what we hoped?
Our opinion is independent, and that independence is what makes the report worth having. A report that could only ever say yes would be worthless to a court, a bank or your family. We explain our reasoning clearly whatever the conclusion.
Guides that support this assessment
What is capacity to manage finances?
The decision, the legal test and who assesses it
Everyday money decisions versus complex financial decisions
Why capacity can differ between small and large decisions
Questions asked in a financial capacity assessment
What the assessor covers and why
Capacity to manage bank accounts, bills and savings
The everyday decisions banks and families ask about
Evidence that supports a financial capacity report
What strengthens the assessment and the report
Other assessment types
If this is not quite the decision you need assessed, these related assessments may fit better. Financial capacity is the general assessment; the decisions below each have their own dedicated service.
Capacity to buy, sell or transfer property
For a specific property decision, such as selling a home, buying, transferring or gifting.
Capacity to grant a Lasting Power of Attorney
Where the question is making an LPA, not day-to-day finances.
COP3 mental capacity assessment
For Court of Protection deputyship applications.
Nellie Supports provides independent social work assessment, evidence and advocacy support. We do not provide regulated legal advice, and where a legal remedy is needed we will say so and support your solicitor's work.
Arrange a capacity to manage finances assessment
Tell us about the decisions that need assessing and we will confirm the right assessment, the fixed fee and the earliest appointment.
Written by Ben Slater, Founder and Managing Director, Nellie Supports. Read our editorial policy.