HIGH COURT DECISION ON TESTAMENTARY CAPACITY - Watson Ramsbottom Solicitors

Contentious Probate Expert Guy Platon looks at a very interesting recent High Court decision in which a challenge was made to a will on the grounds the will maker (Testator) did not have sufficient testamentary capacity at the time, despite there being both a positive opinion from his GP and a subsequent expert report both stating that he had had.

This particular case followed a ‘hybrid’ trial. Incidentally these are increasingly becoming the norm for complicated and multi-day hearings: where hearings take place via both video link and in person.

The matter arose from the death of a father who had substantial farming assets and 2 surviving children. The client had made a series of Wills and, in 2014, one of his 3 children tragically committed suicide. This understandably had a marked effect on the Testator but, despite this, he left his ‘final’ Will In 2016, which made a much reduced provision for the children of his dead son than they otherwise would’ve have received under the previous Will. However, even though the Will writers had ensured that a suitable doctor had assessed the Testator’s mental capacity at the time the Will was signed, the will had been set aside by the courts for the following reasons…

Client didn’t have capacity to understand that his dead son had worked the land for free or subsequent promise
He lacked capacity to understand the extent of the land
He lacked capacity to understand the changes to the wills were more than just minor changes.

This case is a good example of challenge to a Will succeeding even when there is weighty expert evidence to show that the Testator had sufficient capacity to enter into a Will.

It also shows that the effects of bereavement can have a devastating effect on someone’s capacity to make a Will, in this case approximately 2 years later.

If you are in dispute over the validity of a will, we can help.

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