Lincolnshire County Council v J K [2016] EWCOP 59

Hearing to determine whether the Patient had capacity in respect of four areas. The Patient was deemed to lack capacity in all areas.

The Patient is 73 and has suffered from depression in the past. She is also suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's dementia. Her home conditions had deteriorated rapidly to the point where it was considered she was not coping so she moved into respite care in AB care home where she has remained. She also had financial problems and one of her two properties had been repossessed (the other one is her family home). The court had to decide if the P had capacity to 1) decide her place of residence; 2) decide her medical treatment and care; 3) deal with her financial affairs; and 4) conduct proceedings.

The Court of Protection considered the question of capacity strictly in accordance with the evidence and the statutory test and met the P on three occasions. The court determined that the P lacked capacity in all four areas.

Editor's comment
An unsurprising decision given the diagnosis of dementia, although practitioners should not assume that just because of such a diagnosis that P lacks capacity in all areas.

Read the full text of the judgment on Bailii