SECTIONS 810-813 - California Statutes

PROBATE CODE

SECTION 810-813

810. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) For purposes of this part, there shall exist a rebuttable
presumption affecting the burden of proof that all persons have the
capacity to make decisions and to be responsible for their acts or
decisions.
(b) A person who has a mental or physical disorder may still be
capable of contracting, conveying, marrying, making medical
decisions, executing wills or trusts, and performing other actions.
(c) A judicial determination that a person is totally without
understanding, or is of unsound mind, or suffers from one or more
mental deficits so substantial that, under the circumstances, the
person should be deemed to lack the legal capacity to perform a
specific act, should be based on evidence of a deficit in one or more
of the person's mental functions rather than on a diagnosis of a
person's mental or physical disorder.

811. (a) A determination that a person is of unsound mind or lacks
the capacity to make a decision or do a certain act, including, but
not limited to, the incapacity to contract, to make a conveyance, to
marry, to make medical decisions, to execute wills, or to execute
trusts, shall be supported by evidence of a deficit in at least one
of the following mental functions, subject to subdivision (b), and
evidence of a correlation between the deficit or deficits and the
decision or acts in question:
(1) Alertness and attention, including, but not limited to, the
following:
(A) Level of arousal or consciousness.
(B) Orientation to time, place, person, and situation.
(C) Ability to attend and concentrate.
(2) Information processing, including, but not limited to, the
following:
(A) Short- and long-term memory, including immediate recall.
(B) Ability to understand or communicate with others, either
verbally or otherwise.
(C) Recognition of familiar objects and familiar persons.
(D) Ability to understand and appreciate quantities.
(E) Ability to reason using abstract concepts.
(F) Ability to plan, organize, and carry out actions in one's own
rational self-interest.
(G) Ability to reason logically.
(3) Thought processes. Deficits in these functions may be
demonstrated by the presence of the following:
(A) Severely disorganized thinking.
(B) Hallucinations.
(C) Delusions.
(D) Uncontrollable, repetitive, or intrusive thoughts.
(4) Ability to modulate mood and affect. Deficits in this ability
may be demonstrated by the presence of a pervasive and persistent or
recurrent state of euphoria, anger, anxiety, fear, panic, depression,
hopelessness or despair, helplessness, apathy or indifference, that
is inappropriate in degree to the individual's circumstances.
(b) A deficit in the mental functions listed above may be
considered only if the deficit, by itself or in combination with one
or more other mental function deficits, significantly impairs the
person's ability to understand and appreciate the consequences of his
or her actions with regard to the type of act or decision in
question.
(c) In determining whether a person suffers from a deficit in
mental function so substantial that the person lacks the capacity to
do a certain act, the court may take into consideration the
frequency, severity, and duration of periods of impairment.
(d) The mere diagnosis of a mental or physical disorder shall not
be sufficient in and of itself to support a determination that a
person is of unsound mind or lacks the capacity to do a certain act.
(e) This part applies only to the evidence that is presented to,
and the findings that are made by, a court determining the capacity
of a person to do a certain act or make a decision, including, but
not limited to, making medical decisions. Nothing in this part shall
affect the decisionmaking process set forth in Section 1418.8 of the
Health and Safety Code, nor increase or decrease the burdens of
documentation on, or potential liability of, health care providers
who, outside the judicial context, determine the capacity of patients
to make a medical decision.

812. Except where otherwise provided by law, including, but not
limited to, Section 813 and the statutory and decisional law of
testamentary capacity, a person lacks the capacity to make a decision
unless the person has the ability to communicate verbally, or by any
other means, the decision, and to understand and appreciate, to the
extent relevant, all of the following:
(a) The rights, duties, and responsibilities created by, or
affected by the decision.
(b) The probable consequences for the decisionmaker and, where
appropriate, the persons affected by the decision.
(c) The significant risks, benefits, and reasonable alternatives
involved in the decision.

813. (a) For purposes of a judicial determination, a person has the
capacity to give informed consent to a proposed medical treatment if
the person is able to do all of the following:
(1) Respond knowingly and intelligently to queries about that
medical treatment.
(2) Participate in that treatment decision by means of a rational
thought process.
(3) Understand all of the following items of minimum basic medical
treatment information with respect to that treatment:
(A) The nature and seriousness of the illness, disorder, or defect
that the person has.
(B) The nature of the medical treatment that is being recommended
by the person's health care providers.
(C) The probable degree and duration of any benefits and risks of
any medical intervention that is being recommended by the person's
health care providers, and the consequences of lack of treatment.
(D) The nature, risks, and benefits of any reasonable
alternatives.
(b) A person who has the capacity to give informed consent to a
proposed medical treatment also has the capacity to refuse consent to
that treatment.