A recent judgment from the Court of Protection has highlighted that mental capacity to financial decisions can vary depending on the complexity of the decision(s) required. The judge disagreed with a local authorities view that a man lacked mental capacity to financial decisions and concluded he did have mental capacity to make ‘simple’ financial decisions. The judge stated: ‘Peter is able to manage his rather limited income and expenditure on a weekly basis. He is able to account for his expenditure by taking receipts to the staff. He has an appointee who deals with his benefits. ...I look at the issue this way. If Peter did not have an appointee, his property and affairs decision making would become more complex for him. I doubt he would then have capacity to deal with the more complex part of his property and affairs. He would then need a deputy or, as it happens, an appointee to enable him to have capacity of the parts of his financial affairs he can manage.’
Download the full judgment from HERE.
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