Case Number
CA 1212/91
Date Decided
8-28-1994
Decision Type
Appellate
Document Type
Full Opinion
Abstract
Facts: The late Shalom Wagner, in his last will, disinherited his sister and her children, who were his closest family, and left the residue of his estate to the LIBI Fund. The family challenged the will, on the grounds that the deceased had been hospitalized with mental illness shortly before making the will and also subsequently, and at those times he suffered from delusions that his sister was trying to poison him. The deceased’s lawyer, however, testified that the deceased’s reason for changing the will was the fact that his nephew had not returned to him money that he deposited with the nephew before he was hospitalized; when the deceased asked for the money to be returned, the nephew claimed he could not return it because he had used it.
The trial judge held the will to be invalid in so far as it disinherited the sister and her two daughters, since the deceased had no reason to disinherit them, but valid in that it disinherited the nephew, since he had an objective reason for disinheriting the nephew. The trial judge held that the sister and her daughters were disinherited because of a mistaken belief that they were trying to kill the deceased, and so the will was one made as a result of a mistake and therefore was invalid.
Held: The doctrine of mistake was not applicable. The relevant question was the effect of mental illness on the deceased’s testamentary capacity. Under the law, it was necessary to prove that the deceased suffered from delusions at the time he made the will. But this, in itself, was not enough. It was also necessary to prove that these delusions affected the contents of the will. Neither of these were proved in this case, and, in view of the behaviour of the nephew, it need not have been only mental illness that led the deceased to disinherit not only the nephew but his mother and sisters also. Therefore the will was admitted to probate on appeal.
Keywords
International Law -- Relevance of foreign law in judicial decisions, Wills and Estates -- Cancellation of probate, Wills and Estates -- Respecting Wishes of Testator, Wills and Estates -- Testamentary Capacity
