Estate Planning and Dementia: A Practical Guide with Dr. Paul Ferner MD CCFP

“Estate Planning and Dementia: A Practical Guide” is presented by Dr. Paul Ferner MD CCFP, a family physician who graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984 and spent 30 years working in long term care with residents with cognitive impairments from a variety of causes. 

A designated capacity assessor under the Substitute Decisions Act from 1997 to 2023, he has conducted over 1500 capacity assessments for property, personal care, and testamentary and other decision making, and for ten years has performed retrospective medical record reviews on capacity in estate and insurance litigation. Drawing on this experience.

Dr. Ferner introduces the clinical basics of cognitive impairment and dementia and links them to a person’s ability to make a will or grant powers of attorney, explains common types of dementia and practical red flags, and shows how tools such as the Mini Mental Status Exam and Montreal Cognitive Assessment are used. Using case examples, he then focuses on how lawyers can interview and assess clients with suspected cognitive impairment, including accommodations, structuring conversations, asking open questions, and distinguishing simple from complex decision making, so that practitioners can better recognize capacity concerns and work more effectively with medical evidence.