before me. It was agreed that she need not attend while the witnesses gave evidence, but that she should be supplied with the daily transcript and should have an opportunity, if she wished, to make submissions on behalf of the Attorney General on the questions between Zoran and the CPA. In the event she informed the court in a letter dated 26 July 2007 that, in the light of the evidence, there was no need for her to make any submissions. 13. On the crucial issue of testamentary capacity, it was common ground that the burden of proof lies on the CPA, as the party propounding the 1989 Will (or alternatively the 1988 Will), to satisfy the court on the balance of probabilities that Bane had testamentary capacity on the dates when they were executed, and in particular that the gifts in those wills in favour of the CPA were not affected by any delusional disorder of Bane’s mind. 14. It was also common ground that the basic test of testamentary capacity is still that set out in the celebrated judgment of Sir Alexander Cockburn CJ, giving the judgment of the Court of Queen’s Bench (comprising, apart from himself, Blackburn, Mellor and Hannen JJ) in Banks v Goodfellow (1870) 5QB 549 at 565: “It is essential to the exercise of such a power that a testator shall understand the nature of the act and its effects; shall understand the extent of the property of which he is disposing; shall be able to comprehend and appreciate the claims to which he ought to give effect; and, with a view to the latter object, that no disorder of the mind shall poison his affections, pervert his sense of right, or prevent the exercise of his natural faculties – that no insane delusion shall influence his will in disposing of his property and bring about a disposal of it which, if the mind had been sound, would not have been made.” 15. There was, however, a disagreement between the parties, to which I will need to return, about the precise degree of capacity which has to be shown in a case where the testator suffered from insane delusions. The difference between the parties lies in the answer to the question whether the delusions brought about a disposal of the testator’s estate which he would not have made if of sound mind. Does it only have to be shown, in order for the will to be valid, that the delusions did not in fact exercise any influence on the dispositions in the will, or does it also have to be shown that the delusions were not likely to influence the dispositions in the will, whether or not they actually did so? The CPA argued for the former of these tests, and Zoran for the latter. 16. It is convenient to record at this stage that Miss Clare Montgomery QC and Mr William Henderson appeared for Zoran, and Mr Andrew Simmonds QC and Miss Tracey Angus for the first and second defendants. The Facts in Outline and the Terms of the Wills 17. I will begin by giving a brief account of some of the key events in Bane’s life, and describing the terms of his wills in more detail than I have done so far.