If your client’s mental capacity is in doubt, how do you best advise them? David Catchpole explains
There is a good degree of knowledge in the legal profession about the so called golden but tactless rule where the capacity of a testator may be in issue. However, while the vast majority of probate practitioners are aware of the rule, fewer appear to follow it in practice. Telling your client, who you may have represented for numerous years, that you have concerns about their mental faculties is never easy—and many solicitors will shy away from this very difficult conversation. It is a conversation that may well lose a client (and potential fee income) as a result. Further, some practitioners may feel it is better to prepare a will and risk a fight in future over capacity, than to refuse to prepare a will and risk a possible professional negligence claim for not following their client’s instructions. Will preparation is a competitive business and a solicitor refusing to prepare a will for a client whose capacity he questions knows that the client could seek advice
