Functional Capacity Assessment
Definition
Assessment of capacity in relation to a specific decision, at a specific time, requiring evaluation of whether the person can understand, retain, use or weigh, and communicate information relevant to that decision; the approach mandated by the MCA 2005 and adopted in most modern civil capacity frameworks.
- Focus
- Capacity for a specific decision at a specific time
- Legal basis
- Mental Capacity Act 2005 (UK) approach
- Core test elements
- Understand, retain, use or weigh, communicate
Common questions
How does this differ from a global diagnosis-based capacity judgment?+
Rather than assuming incapacity from a diagnosis such as dementia, the functional test requires evaluating the person's ability against the specific decision at hand, so someone may lack capacity for a complex contract yet retain capacity to make a will.
Why does the time-specific element matter in a legal challenge?+
Capacity can fluctuate with medication, fatigue, or illness progression, so an assessment taken at the moment a document was signed carries more weight than a general opinion about the person's overall cognitive state on other days.
Related terms
- Banks V. Goodfellow (1870)
- English common-law case establishing the four-element test for testamentary capacity: the testator must understand the nature of making a will, the extent...
- Golden Rule (Probate)
- English probate practice guidance from Kenward v. Adams (1975) requiring solicitors taking instructions from an elderly or seriously ill testator to arrange...
- Hindu Marriage Act 1955 § 12
- Provision making a marriage voidable (rather than void) where the consent of a party was not free consent because of unsoundness of...
- Indian Contract Act 1872 § 11-12
- Provisions establishing that sound mind for contracting requires capacity to understand the contract and form a rational judgement as to its effect;...
- Insane Delusion
- Under the Banks test, a false belief from which the testator cannot be argued, which causes them to dispose of their property...
- MacCAT-T
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Treatment; a structured instrument assessing capacity to consent to medical treatment using four domains: understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and expressing...
- Mental Capacity Act 2005 (England and Wales)
- Statute governing capacity for consent to treatment and other decisions (not testamentary capacity). Requires a person to understand, retain, weigh, and communicate...