Dr. Richard Shulman

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Dr. Shulman is a geriatric psychiatrist at Trillium Health Partners and is an associate professor at the University of Toronto. He is medical director of the Capacity Clinic and available for independent medical-legal capacity assessments.

Guardianship Applications: Evaluating Decision-Making Capacity of Minors Who Are Soon to Become Adults

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Nathan Spaling (my colleague from the Capacity Clinic) and I are often asked to conduct capacity assessments in the context of guardianship applications. On occasion, the application is brought by a parent seeking to be appointed as the guardian of property for a child who is about to become an adult (i.e., the child is nearing their eighteenth birthday). Adults are presumed to have capacity to manage their own property…..

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Capacity Evaluation – the Role of Corroborative Information at CCB Hearings

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In my last blog, I described the Court’s expectation for confirming a finding of incapacity: namely, that compelling evidence is required to override the presumption of capacity. Such evidence may include corroborative information. However, the Court has warned assessors to be alive to the presence of improper motives of informants who seek to have another found to be without mental capacity.[i] The Consent and Capacity Board (the “Board”) in Ontario….

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Appeals, Capacity Law, Credibility, Family Conflict, Guardianship, Healthcare

Capacity Evaluation: the Role of Corroborative Information

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In clinical geriatric psychiatry, it is an accepted standard of care to obtain corroborative information when conducting clinical evaluations.However, medical-legal tasks of capacity evaluation, such as for the evaluation of capacity to instruct counsel, testamentary capacity and possibly even capacity to appoint powers of attorney, may require strict confidentiality which prevents obtaining corroborative information from informants. As a result, obtaining corroborative information for capacity evaluation in this context is more complex than in clinical care…..

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Suggested Instructions for Attorneys for Personal Care: Limitations of Authority

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It is just as important to know the limitations of a power of attorney for personal care as it is to know your responsibilities…..

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Capacity Law, Elder Care, Elder Law, Elder Management, Family Conflict, Fiduciary Professions, Geriatric Care Management, Guardianship, Healthcare, Power of Attorney, Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes

The Bio-Psycho-Social Approach to Capacity Evaluation

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Current approaches that define capacity in cognitive terms disregard concerns that emotional instability may disrupt capacity or that a person may be cognitively intact yet lack the capacity to give a valid consent. An alternative evaluative approach would be to view capacity holistically, as a combination of biological, psychological, and social (biopsychosocial) factors…..

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Capacity Law, Elder Care, Elder Law, Estate Litigation, Fiduciary Professions, Geriatric Care Management, Guardianship, Healthcare, Power of Attorney, Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes, Testamentary Capacity

More Commentary on the Evaluation of Capacity to Consent for MAiD

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There appears to be a lack of consensus in the mental health field whether persons with a mental disorder-sole underlying medical condition can be adequately evaluated for capacity to consent to MAiD…..

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Capacity Law, Caregiving, Disability, Elder Care, Elder Law, Family Conflict, Geriatric Care Management
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