Capacity Evaluations and Psychological Autopsy
Windy City Neuropsychology provides capacity evaluations and psychological autopsy services for attorneys, courts, fiduciaries, and families across Illinois. Dr. Michael Wilson is a clinical neuropsychologist with focused experience evaluating older adults for testamentary capacity,
contractual capacity, medical decision-making capacity, guardianship questions,
and disputed capacity at the time of contested transactions or end-of-life decisions.
The office is located at 4747 West Peterson Avenue on Chicago’s northwest side, with availability for in-home and facility-based evaluations throughout the Chicago area when an examinee cannot travel.
What a Capacity Evaluation Answers
Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific. A person can have full capacity to make some decisions and not others, and capacity can fluctuate with medical conditions, medications, time of day, and disease progression. A neuropsychological capacity evaluation answers a defined legal or clinical question about a particular kind of decision at a particular point in time, supported by objective cognitive testing, clinical interview, collateral records, and applicable legal standards.
Common questions a capacity evaluation can address include:
- Does this individual currently have the capacity to execute a will, trust, or power of attorney?
- Did this individual have the capacity to execute a contested document at the time it was signed?
- Can this individual make their own medical decisions, or is a healthcare surrogate or guardian needed?
- Can this individual manage their own finances, or are they vulnerable to undue influence or financial exploitation?
- Is guardianship warranted, and if so, plenary or limited?
- Does this individual retain the capacity to live independently, drive, or consent to a major life change?
Our Services for Capacity Evaluations and Psychological Autopsy
Testamentary Capacity Evaluations
Evaluation of a living individual’s capacity to execute a will, trust, beneficiary designation, or related estate planning document. Useful for elder law attorneys drafting documents for clients with early dementia or other cognitive concerns, where contemporaneous documentation of capacity protects against later challenge. Reports apply the Illinois testamentary capacity standard and are written to be defensible in subsequent litigation.
Retrospective Capacity Evaluations
Evaluation of an individual’s likely capacity at a specific past point in time, typically in the context of a contested document or transaction. Reports integrate medical records, contemporaneous clinical and behavioral evidence, and review of available documentation to reconstruct the most probable cognitive and decisional status at the time in question. Used in will contests, contested deeds and beneficiary changes, and disputed late-life marriages or financial transactions.
Guardianship and Plenary Capacity Evaluations
Evaluation of an alleged person with a disability in guardianship proceedings, addressing the specific capacities at issue under Illinois law. Reports address the full range of decisional capacities, including personal, medical, financial, and residential, and provide opinions about whether guardianship is warranted, whether limited rather than plenary guardianship is appropriate, and what supports might preserve maximum autonomy.
Medical Decision-Making and Healthcare Capacity
Evaluation of an individual’s capacity to consent to medical treatment, refuse treatment, or designate a healthcare surrogate. Useful in cases of disputed treatment decisions, end-of-life care planning, and situations where a healthcare team needs formal documentation of decisional capacity.
Financial Capacity and Undue Influence
Evaluation of an individual’s capacity to manage their own financial affairs and their vulnerability to undue influence. Particularly relevant in cases involving suspected elder financial exploitation, contested gifts or transfers to caregivers, and disputes between family members and outside parties claiming late-life financial intimacy.
Psychological Autopsy
Post-mortem evaluation of a deceased individual’s psychological and cognitive state at a specified time prior to death. Used in contested wills and trusts, disputed beneficiary designations, life insurance disputes involving manner-of-death determinations, and civil litigation following deaths in long-term care settings.
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