mental competence
Capacity for reasoning
Mental competence is the cognitive ability to understand information, make decisions, and manage one's own affairs.
The term appears most often in legal and medical contexts, where determining someone's mental competence affects whether they can sign contracts, stand trial, refuse treatment, or live independently: The court ordered an evaluation of her mental competence.
A person may lack competence in one domain while retaining it in others.
- attentionFocused mental awareness
- impulse controlRegulating sudden urges
- critical thinkingObjective evaluation of information
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
communication · informed consent · intelligence · memory · processing speed · foresight · abstraction · planning · ethical reasoning · compos mentis · reasoning · forensic psychology · self-control · decision making · oriented · executive function · risk assessment · awareness
- criminal liabilitycriminal liability, criminal responsibility, culpability, mens rea, criminal intent
- Elder Lawelder abuse, elder rights, elder care, elder neglect, eldercare
- guardianship lawlegal guardian, legal guardianship, conservatorship, ward of court, legal capacity
- legal capacitylegal capacity, capacity, incapacity, competency, incompetence
- probate disputesinheritance disputes, undue influence, lack of capacity, document fraud, fraud claims
- power of attorneypower of attorney, agent, principal, attorney-in-fact, proxy
mental competencemental incompetence
Inability to understand decisions
mental incapacity · cognitive impairment · mental deficiency · intellectual disability · insanity
mental competenceincompetency
Lack of skill
incapacitation · non compos mentis · lack of capacity · wardship · unfitness