What is Mental Capacity?

Mental capacity means being able to make your own decisions.

To have capacity, a person needs to be able to understand the information about a decision, remember it long enough to think it through, weigh up the pros and cons, and then communicate their choice.

Capacity can change over time — someone might be able to make some decisions but need help or assessment for others.

The law says we must always assume a person has capacity unless there’s good reason to think otherwise.