Try: Due to the prevalence of dementia and the side effects of strokes most mentally incapacitated persons are elderly however an individual should not be considered incapacitated just because he or she is old state laws rest on a presumption that adult individuals are legally competent the presumption can be overcome by a court declaring incompetency only a court can make a determination regarding legal capacity a person must be found to be incapacitated for a guardian to be appointed although definitions vary from state to state the general idea is that the incapacitated individual is unable to make informed decisions thus the laws focus on a functional deficiency with the person not on status or condition old age currently the accepted view is that each individual has several different levels of capacity however guardians should only be appointed for individuals who lack mental capacity physical incapacity alone is not grounds for the appointment of a guardian information references

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Legal, Medical Physical, Some Supervision, Maximum Supervision, Fully Aware, Somewhat Aware

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Keywords: Capacity medical decisions cognitive

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed