Cognitive decline is often gradual and uneven, and it can shift a family from smooth day-to-day functioning to disputed decisions and failing financial processes at exactly the time stability is most needed. Because capacity is not binary but decision- and time-specific, a person may manage routine spending while struggling with complex transactions or detecting undue influence, which is why dementia planning is about putting clear decision rights, governance and practical controls in place early—so protections can tighten progressively, dignity is preserved, and families avoid reactive, costly interventions. In this article, we explore some mechanisms families can use if a loved one begins to lose mental capacity.

Map decision rights, not just assets

Traditional estate planning is often asset-focused (which is important), whereas dementia planning is primarily decision-focused – dealing with specifics regarding who may act, when they may act, what checks and balances apply, and how decisions will be monitored. In this regard, we often find that a decision map is a highly effective tool as it sets out who makes the decision, who must be consulted, and what proof or process is required before an instruction is implemented. This becomes far more valuable when you include the real-world complexity of modern private wealth, which often includes private companies, trusts, properties across different entities and jurisdictions, offshore investment, significant insurance policies, and digital access to accounts.

This decision map can also expose single points of failure. For instance, having one person responsible for managing everything does not create efficiency – it creates risk. This is because unchecked authority often results in mistakes, opportunism, and disputes later down the line. While the decision map is not a legal document, it is designed to be a blueprint for the actions that follow – and can be a valuable way of ensuring that there are checks and balances in the plan.

Be clear about what a power of attorney can’t do

In South Africa, families often default to a general power of attorney as the solution, and while it can be useful while the person still has capacity, it is not the safety net many assume it to be. Once a person loses legal capacity, an ordinary power of attorney generally falls away, which means the document you hoped would activate in incapacity may be the one that fails when you need it most. The failure point often shows up in an institutional setting, such as when a bank declines instructions, an investment platform rejects a withdrawal, or family members dispute whether the client truly understood what they signed.

The practical takeaway is that sound planning is not about collecting more paperwork, but rather about building continuity into structures and governance that does not depend on one person signing everything. Depending on the family’s circumstances, that may mean ensuring companies have more than one appropriately appointed director, making sure trusts have competent co-trustees and workable decision-making provisions, putting dual-authorisation in place for higher-risk transactions, and aligning institutional mandates so that providers have clear processes to follow.

Controls that prevent exploitation without infantilising the client

Financial exploitation in dementia situations is typically gradual and presented as assistance, whether through a caregiver or companion taking over administration, a relative assuming control, or a scammer gaining access to email and banking details. The most effective controls are practical and layered, and may include adding safeguards for higher-risk actions through transaction limits, dual approval for larger payments, and automated alerts to more than one trusted person. We have had families that have ring-fenced a personal ‘dignity’ account that allows the person a measure of independent lifestyle spending while protecting the core capital.

Don’t ignore digital risk

Cognitive decline increases digital vulnerability and, sadly, many families only realise this when something has already gone awry. If a scammer can access a person’s email, they can intercept OTPs, reset passwords, impersonate the client, and manipulate communication with institutions. With this in mind, it is always useful to have a practical digital safety plan as part of any dementia plan. This could include mechanisms such as password managers, multi-factor authentication that is not dependent on a single compromised device, agreed rules around password sharing, a trusted person to assist with cybersecurity, and a secure record of where key documents and access details are held.

Get documentation right while the client can still participate

Families often ask for a definitive document checklist, but the right answer depends on how the family’s wealth is structured and where friction is most likely to arise. That said, there are consistent essentials such as an updated Will that contemplates practical administration and liquidity, clear records of loans and inter-entity transactions, relevant contracts and resolutions, current FICA documents, marriage contracts and divorce orders where applicable, and a well-organised adviser file with contact details for all professionals involved.

Where capacity may later be contested, it is also wise to build a credible record of the client’s understanding at key decision points, particularly for major changes such as updating a Will, changing trustees or directors, making large gifts or donations, or altering beneficiary arrangements. This is less about proving mental capacity and more about reducing scope for disputes later on.

Prepare for the moment the family may need to step in formally

Even with sound dementia planning, there may come a point where formal intervention is required to protect a person who can no longer manage their affairs and is being harmed or exploited. Families should understand this possibility early, because the legal and administrative processes can be slow, expensive and emotionally confronting, especially when they introduce courts, professionals and institutions into an already sensitive family dynamic.

The risk is not that protective mechanisms exist – it’s that families tend to reach them in crisis and without alignment, which, in turn, can cause old resentments and sibling fault lines to emerge. The way to reduce that risk is to have the difficult conversation early, while the client can still articulate what dignity means to them. Understand early on who they trust, what they fear, what they want to protect, and what they would find unacceptable. In practice, we find a client’s deepest anxiety is often not the money – it is loss of agency, fear of becoming a burden, and of being treated like a problem to be managed. If the plan is anchored in those realities, the controls feel protective rather than punitive.

A practical checklist for continuity

As a starting point for a dementia planning meeting, we like to explore the following questions: Have we mapped the major decision categories and assigned clear decision rights? Are there any single points of failure where one signature, one password, or one person can move significant value unchecked? Do our trusts, companies, platforms and bank accounts have governance that can continue smoothly if the primary decision-maker becomes vulnerable? Have we separated lifestyle spending from structural control in a way that preserves independence? Are our documents current, accessible, and aligned across advisers and jurisdictions? Do we have monitoring in place that would detect unusual transactions, changes in behaviour, or suspicious admin activity early, without turning the client’s life into an interrogation?

Dementia planning is best understood as continuity planning for a human being. It respects the person, anticipates a gradual shift rather than a sudden collapse, and uses the tools of good financial planning to protect dignity, reduce conflict, and keep the family’s wealth serving its intended purpose.

Have a wonderful day.

Sue