“Their Lordships are of opinion that, in order to constitute a
sound disposing mind, a testator must not only be able to
understand that he is by his will giving the whole of his
property to one object of his regard, but he must also have
capacity to comprehend the extent of his property, and the
nature of the claims of others, whom by his will he is excluding
from all participation in that property; and that the protection of
the law is in no cases more needed than it is in those where the
mind has been too much enfeebled to comprehend more objects
than one; and more especially, when that one object may be so
forced upon the attention of the invalid as to shut out all others
that might require consideration. And, therefore, the question
which their Lordships propose to decide in this case is, not
whether Mr Baker knew, when he executed this will, that he
was giving all his property to his wife, and excluding all his
other relations from any share in it, but whether he was at that
time capable of recollecting who those relations were, of
understanding their respective claims upon his regard and
bounty, and of deliberately forming an intelligent purpose of
excluding them from any share of his property. If he had not
the capacity required, the propriety of the disposition made by
the will is a matter of no importance. If he had it, the injustice
of the exclusion would not affect the validity of the disposition,
though the justice or injustice of the disposition might cast
down some light upon the question as to his capacity.”
202.
Harwood v Baker was a case of “impaired mental power”, but Cockburn CJ went on
to say that the same standard should be applied in cases of “mental unsoundness
produced by mental disease”:
“It may be said that the analogy between the two cases is
imperfect; that there is an essential difference between
unsoundness of mind arising from congenital defect, or
supervening infirmity, and the perversion of thought and
feeling produced by mental disease, the latter being far more
likely to give rise to an inofficious will than the mere
deficiency of mental power. This is, no doubt, true, but it
becomes immaterial on the hypothesis that the disorder of the
mind has left the faculties, on which the proper exercise of the
testamentary power depends, unaffected, and that a rational
will, uninfluenced by the mental disorder, has been the result.”
203.
The second passage which I have found of particular assistance is at 570, where
Cockburn CJ gave his reasons for rejecting the view that any degree of unsoundness
of mind should suffice to take away testamentary capacity, and said this:
“It seems unreasonable to deny testamentary capacity on the
speculative possibility of unsoundness which has failed to
display itself, and which, if existing in a latent and
undiscovered form, would be little likely to have any influence
on the disposition of the will. No doubt, where the fact that the
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