FARNUM V. SILVANO
540 N.E.2d 202 (1989)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Farnum (P), guardian, appealed a finding of competency and the
conveyance of a valid deed to Silvano (D) in P's action to set aside the deed allegedly
executed by P, an incompetent woman.
FACTS: P's mental competence had begun to fail seriously in 1983, three years before she
delivered a deed to D. P would lament not hearing from sisters who were dead. She would
wonder where the people upstairs in her house had gone, but there was no upstairs to her
house. She offered to sell the house to a neighbor for $35,000. (He declined, recognizing
the property was worth much more.) She became abnormally forgetful. Frequently she locked
herself out of her house and broke into it, rather than calling on a neighbor with whom she
had left a key (on one occasion, she broke and entered through a basement window). She hid
her cat to protect it from 'the cops . . . looking for my cat.' She would express a desire
to return to Cape Cod although she was on Cape Cod. She easily became lost. Payment of her
bills required the assistance of her sister and her nephew, who also balanced her check
book. A brain scan examination disclosed organic brain disease. By January, 1987, some six
months after the conveyance, P was admitted to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment of dementia
and seizure disorder. She was discharged to a nursing home. P was represented by a lawyer
selected and paid by D. At the closing P was, as the trial judge expressed it, 'aware of
what was going on.' She was cheerful, engaged in pleasantries, and made instant coffee for
those present. After the transaction, P insisted to others -- her sister and nephew, -- that
she still owned the property. The judge concluded, P was coherent or in a lucid interval
when she signed the deed. The judge ruled for D and P appealed.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
Get
free access to the entire content for Mac, PC or Online
for 2-3 days and free samples
of all kinds of products.
for 2-3 days and free samples of all kinds of products.
https://bsmsphd.com
© 2007-2016 Abn Study Partner
No comments:
Post a Comment