Capacity & Guardianship
OPAL Institute staff regularly works with the court system, attorneys, guardians, conservators, family members, and older adults to answer questions such as:
- An aging family member wants to change a will; is there capacity to do so?
- An older person wants to live alone/independently but don’t appear to be safe to do so; is he/she?
- Family members disagree on whether an older relative needs a guardian to be safe, and the elder does not think so; who is correct?
- A doctor has expressed concerns or DMV has issued a letter to revoke an elderly person’s driving privileges; is the person capable of driving safely?
- Is someone being taken advantage of financially, or can he/she still make reasonable decisions about finances?
- An elder was given a temporary guardian during a medical emergency, but now states that he can manage his life himself; does this person have capacity to do so?
Insurance will often not pay for an evaluation focused specifically on answering questions related to capacity, because it is not deemed “medically necessary.” Please contact OPAL Institute directly to discuss charges for such an evaluation.
Insurance will not pay for OPAL Institute staff to testify in court; forensic activities are billed separately from evaluations.
OPAL Forensic Services Agreement
Click on the link below to Dr. Friday’s Capacity Evaluation Services brochure:
