In the Pace vs. Steele case the critical factor that was identified by the
court are that Cora and Darrell procured Ralph's will. Ralph should
have drafted his own will and instead of Cora making her own notes
that mentioned that the property was going to Cora and Darrell. Their
attorney was also not present when Ralph signed the will. In order for
a will to be valid it has to meet all four requirements. The testator
who is the person that signs the will must have testamentary
capacity, it must be in writing, whoever writes the will must sign the
will, and there must be a witness to attest to the will. They missed the
step of having a witness there to attest the will. Ralph's mind set
while signing the will also did not have testamentary capacity. His
mind was not fully there and could only make decisions "some" of the
time.
This case is a prime example that courts should do whatever they can
to protect the elderly and inform from undue influence and fraud. In
Ralph's case his mental capacity was not very strong so this is a
situation that shows he needed to be protected. Cora and Darrell
could have meant well and could have actually been wanting to help
Ralph in this situation so the courts need to look into all the evidence
thoroughly and come to a conclusion about Ralph's mental capacity.
References
Kubasek, N., Browne, M. N., Dhooge, L. J., Herron, D. J., Williamson,
C., & Barkacs, L. L. (2020). Dynamic business law (5th ed.).
