Where an adult lacks capacity to make a particular decision it sometimes falls to professional staff to make a decision for them. Until now there has been little statute law to govern how such decisions should be made. In 2007 The Mental Capacity Act comes into effect providing a new statutory framework for decision making. This book provides a practical guide to working within the requirements of the Act, identifying situations where staff will need to be familiar with the Act and Code of Practice, and providing checklists and exercises to help people to ensure compliance with the new requirements.