The donating capacity of the elderly: A case report of vascular dementia

Seniors may be more vulnerable to the influence of others, being less able to make judicious decisions. The legal legitimacy of donating capacity is based on the clinical assumption that, at the time of the event, the donor is able to understand the nature of the transaction, weigh its consequences and determine his/her actions according to it. From the point of view of forensic psychiatry, the evaluation of such premises is a challenge, reflecting the difficulty in assessing, retrospectively, the subject's cognitive functions at the time of the event. In cases where the cross-sectional evaluation favours the diagnosis of dementia it is crucial to objectify the onset and course of the illness. The authors report and discuss the case of a donation from father to sons, involving a great deal of money, made by an 85-year-old man, who had suffered an ischaemic cerebrovascular accident 5 years before.