The case Pace vs. Steele presents a difficult situation in which Mr.
Ralph Steele was without a doubt going through a difficult time after
the loss of his wife and his accidental fall which ultimately led to
further deterioration of both physical and mental health until he
passed away. The focus point on this case is the validity of the will
prepared by Darrel and Cora, which Mr. Ralph signed despite the fact
that he did not take part in the drafting of said will. In order to deem
a will valid, the testator must be with reasonable mental capacity at
the time of signing. Kathy, another surviving niece of Mr. Ralph
argued that her uncle Mr. Ralph was influenced by Darrel and Cora
when he signed his will and did not have the mental capacity to make
decisions. In order to invalidate the will signed by mr Ralph, his niece
Kathy had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ralph was
unable to make decisions for himself. While Mr. Ralph's physical and
mental health rapidly deteriorated after his admission to the hospital,
there was no sufficient evidence that Mr. Ralph's mental capacity
was sufficiently impaired at the time he signed the will and thus
Kathy's petition to deny the execution of Mr. Ralph's will in which
Darrel and Cora were the benefactors was denied.
When vulnerable people such as the elderly are in a situation such as
Mr. Ralph's where he has no children, lost his wife the same year and
suffered a life threatening accident, it can be very easy to take
advantage of them. The rapid deterioration of mental and physical
health puts them in a first come, first serve situation for surviving
family members to get a piece of their estates. The sad reality is that
Mr. Ralph did not get the chance to actively participate in deciding
what to do with his estate and instead went with the only option that
was presented to him. In order to prevent or at least mitigate the risk
of elders being taken advantage of, courts should require a signed
document from a licensed doctor certifying that they are able to
make decisions for themselves prior to signing any document such
as a will.
Kubasek, N. K., M Neil Browne, Dhooge, L. J., Herron, D. J., &
Barkacs, L. L. (2020)
