Mental Capacity Act 2005

'Capacity' means the ability to understand information and make decisions about your life. Sometimes it can also mean the ability to communicate decisions about your life.

For example, if you do not understand the information and are unable to make a decision about your treatment, you are said to 'lack capacity' to make decisions about your treatment.

See our pages on the Mental Capacity Act for more information.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is the law that tells you what you can do to plan ahead in case you can't make decisions for yourself, how you can ask someone else to make decisions for you and who can make decisions for you if you haven't planned ahead.

See our pages on the Mental Capacity Act for more information.

A deprivation of liberty is where your liberty is taken away from you - that is, you are not free to leave and you are under continuous supervision and control. The Mental Capacity Act says that the law allows this only in very specific situations.

This may happen to you if you need to go into a care home or hospital to get care or treatment, but you don't have the capacity to make decisions about this yourself.

An advance decision is a statement of instructions about what medical treatment you want to refuse in case you lose the capacity to make these decisions in the future. It is legally binding.

See our pages on the Mental Capacity Act for more information.

An attorney is a person over the age of 18 whom you have appointed to make decisions on your behalf about your welfare and/or your property and financial affairs. You need an attorney if you are unable to make such decisions yourself. If you do not have the capacity to appoint an attorney, the Court of Protection will appoint a deputy to perform this role.

• A health and welfare attorney makes decisions about things like your daily routine, your medical care, where you live and, if you specially request this, whether you should have life-sustaining treatment.
• A property and financial affairs attorney makes decisions about things like paying bills, collecting benefits and selling your home.

See our pages on the Mental Capacity Act for more information.

A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone, called an attorney, to make decisions for you.

See our pages on the Mental Capacity Act for more information.

A deputy is a person the Court of Protection appoints to make decisions for you once you have lost capacity to make them yourself. A deputy usually makes decisions about finances and property. The court can appoint a deputy to take healthcare and personal care decisions, though this is relatively rare.