Testamentary capacity or lack of testamentary capacity is the legal term of art used to describe a person’s legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid will. Adults are presumed to have the ability to make a will.
Litigation about lack of testamentary capacity typically revolves around charges that the testator or grantor, by virtue of senility, dementia, insanity, or other unsoundness of mind, lacked the mental capacity to make a will. In essence, the doctrine requires those who would challenge a validly executed will to demonstrate that the testator did not know the consequence of his conduct when he executed the will.
Lack of mental capacity can also be a reason to overturn a trust, deed, beneficiary designation form or other document that passes property from one person to another.
For a free initial consultation with Houston area attorneys experienced in matters dealing with lack of testamentary capacity, please call Romano & Sumner at 281 242-0995 or contact our Houston area law office.
Romano & Sumner, PLLC
