ABSTRACT
This article reviews legal concepts involved in challenges to wills and how wills are influenced by psychiatric testimony. The outcome of litigation in certain landmark cases and in cases from the extensive experience of the first author is discussed. Clarifications of legal terms of art such as "lucid interval," "testamentary capacity," "undue influence," and "insane delusion" are offered. Pre-death psychiatric evaluations are becoming increasingly important in an aging population more susceptible to mental impairment.
Subject(s)
Expert Testimony/legislation & jurisprudence , Mental Competency/legislation & jurisprudence , Wills/legislation & jurisprudence , Aged , Alzheimer Disease/diagnosis , Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Mental Disorders/psychology , Terminally Ill/legislation & jurisprudence , Terminally Ill/psychologyABSTRACT
In a follow-up survey of 106 settled workers' compensation cases which involved some degree of psychiatric impairment, there was found to be a high prevalence of cases in which the settlement correlated with no improvement in the patient's subjective feelings of well-being, and no improvements in employment status. There was also a large percentage of cases in which the individual continued to operate at a less adaptive level of functioning, as judged by the evaluating clinician.