Act as Executor Mental Capacity Assessment

An executor is a person who deals with the estate of another person who has died.  An executor is named in a will as responsible for dealing with the deceased person’s estate.  However, there are occasions where an executor’s mental capacity to undertake the role is called into question.  If you’re concerned whether a person named as an executor has the mental capacity to undertake the role, we can assess their mental capacity.

We are instructed by solicitors who require robust, high quality Mental Capacity Assessments.  As consultant Social Workers, we are well placed to complete Mental Capacity Assessments for you concerning a person’s ability to act as the executor of a will.  We have a significant amount of experience as practitioners and have completed hundreds of Mental Capacity Assessments since 2009.  In addition, we are qualified Expert Witnesses and instructed to complete Mental Capacity Assessments ahead of legal proceedings.

How is it decided whether a person lacks capacity?

The assessment process itself involves meeting the person (either face-to-face or virtually) and consulting their network of support.  However, the actual assessment framework for this type of decision is contained within the Mental Capacity Act.  This ensures that an objective assessment is completed each time and isn’t subject to personal opinion or assumptions about a particular diagnosis or someone’s age.

When completing a Mental Capacity Assessment for this decision, we adopt best practice principles and adhere to the professional standard of the professional registration and membership bodies we belong to. They are Social Work England, Social Care Wales and the British Association of Social Workers.

How long will the assessment take?

Once instructed, we aim to complete our Mental Capacity Assessments within 10 days with the actual assessment visit usually lasting between 1-2 hours.  If, however you require an assessment completed urgently, please let us know and we will do everything we can to meet your specific timescales.

What happens when a person is assessed as lacking capacity?

If the outcome of the assessment is that the person lacks the mental capacity to act as an executor, it may be necessary to apply for them to be replaced.

If you would like to discuss this type of assessment or would like to instruct us to complete a Mental Capacity Assessment, please don’t hesitate to contact us.