​Assessment of Mental Capacity: A Practical Guide for Doctors and Lawyers (5th edition)

We have an ageing population in England and Wales. Increasingly, this brings into doubt a client’s capacity to do many of the things that they once took for granted: dealing with financial affairs, making a will, gifting assets, and even to marry or enter personal relationships.

These can be challenging topics for traditional private client solicitors grappling with the many and varied legal tests of capacity when advising their clients on a day-to-day basis. For those practitioners this updated guide – produced jointly by the British Medical Association and the Law Society – is a must-have. Previous editions have been among the few books I have personally purchased, making notes in the margins, and highlighting text as my personal point of reference.

This new edition is no different – it is the authoritative statement on perhaps the most important aspects of private client work.

Its wide-ranging coverage clarifies the law in all situations where an assessment of capacity may be needed, setting out the roles of professionals, and providing an aid to communication both between solicitors and doctors but also with the person being assessed.

Change is consistent in this area of law; the fifth edition has been revised throughout to bring it up to date with present requirements. The chapters on capacity to make a will and to make a gift are the standouts for those busy practitioners who do not have time or inclination to read the full book and digest the nuances of the various tests of capacity that are covered.

The sample letter from solicitor to GP on requesting evidence of testamentary capacity has become the standard for so many firms (including my own). And the chapters giving guidance to doctors on the medical role in assessing capacity offer insight to solicitors, enabling them to see things from the ‘other side’.

Written in a practical and jargon-free way, the book effortlessly guides practitioners through the sometimes impenetrable world of capacity assessments.

This is the essential book for every private client solicitor.  

Ian Bond is a head of private client at Midlands firm Thursfields and a member of the Law Society’s Wills & Equity committee