Capacity Assessment Nova Scotia: Process, Cost, and Who Can Do It

Your parent is forgetting to pay bills, making impulsive financial decisions, or no longer recognizing the consequences of signing documents. You suspect they have lost mental capacity — but suspicion is not enough. Nova Scotia requires a formal capacity assessment before any court will appoint you as their representative.

Here is exactly how the process works under the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act (ACDMA).

Capacity Is Domain-Specific, Not All-or-Nothing

The ACDMA replaced Nova Scotia's old Incompetent Persons Act in 2017 with a fundamental shift: capacity is no longer treated as a single binary status. Instead, it is evaluated across specific functional domains. Your parent might be declared incapable of managing investments but fully capable of choosing where to live.

This means the capacity assessment report specifies exactly which domains are affected — financial, personal care, healthcare, housing — and the resulting Representation Order only grants authority over those specific areas.

Who Can Perform a Capacity Assessment

Not any doctor can do this. Under the ACDMA, a capacity assessment must be conducted by one of three categories of certified professionals:

1. Registered medical doctor (MD)
2. Registered psychologist
3. Allied health professional — specifically a registered nurse, occupational therapist, or social worker who has completed specialized training through the Public Trustee's Office and is listed on the active provincial roster

The Public Trustee maintains the roster of certified allied health assessors. If your parent's family physician is not on the roster, they can still provide supporting medical documentation, but the formal ACDMA assessment must come from a listed professional.

What the Assessment Involves

The assessor meets with your parent to evaluate their cognitive ability to understand relevant facts and appreciate the consequences of their decisions in each domain being assessed. The assessment is not a pass/fail cognitive test — it examines functional decision-making capacity.

Important procedural protections:

• Optimal timing — the assessor must conduct the review when your parent is most likely to demonstrate their best cognitive function
• Right to refuse — your parent can refuse the assessment entirely
• Support person — your parent can have someone they trust present during the assessment
• Legal counsel — your parent can have independent legal counsel present
• Communication accommodations — translators and communication technologies are used as needed

The assessment must have been completed within the preceding six months to be accepted by the Supreme Court.

Cost and Government Subsidies

Private capacity assessments typically cost $500 to $1,500+ depending on complexity and whether travel is required.

If paying this fee would cause financial hardship, you can apply to the Public Trustee using Form 6 for a government subsidy:

• Single-domain assessment (financial or personal care): government covers up to $500
• Dual-domain assessment (both financial and personal care): government covers up to $700

This subsidy can reduce the out-of-pocket cost significantly, though it does not guarantee full coverage for complex assessments requiring multiple sessions.

What Happens After the Assessment

The assessor completes the ACDMA Capacity Assessment Report (Form 1), which becomes the central piece of evidence in your application to the Supreme Court for a Representation Order. You will also need:

• Notice of Application (Form 5.03 or 5.07) — filing fee $218.05
• Vulnerable sector (criminal record) check for the proposed representative
• A detailed Representation Plan proving the approach is "least restrictive and least intrusive"
• A draft Representation Order and brief of law

Low-income families may qualify for fee waivers and Legal Aid to cover these costs.

Planning Ahead to Avoid This Process

A capacity assessment and court application costs months and thousands of dollars. An enduring power of attorney and personal directive — signed while your parent still has capacity — accomplish the same legal authority transfer without courts, assessors, or filing fees. The Nova Scotia Power of Attorney & Personal Directive Kit covers both pathways: proactive planning and the capacity-lost court process.

See more Nova Scotia guides →