24-7D-5: Presumption of capacity.

A. All decision-makers are presumed to have capacity until such time as the decision-maker's primary care practitioner and one other qualified health professional with training and experience in the assessment of functional impairment, or a court, determine that the decision-maker is unable to make the decision-maker's own decisions. A diagnosis of mental illness, intellectual disability or developmental disability, of itself, does not void the presumption of capacity.

B. The manner in which a decision-maker communicates with others is not grounds for determining that the decision-maker is incapable of managing the decision-maker's own affairs.

C. The execution of a supported decision-making agreement may not be used as evidence of capacity or incapacity in any civil or criminal proceeding and does not preclude the ability of the decision-maker who has entered into a supported decision-making agreement to act independently of the agreement.