Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:169-174
Copyright © 1992 by American Psychiatric Association
Assessing competency to make a will
JE Spar and AS Garb
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.
The finding by a court that the author of a will (the testator) lacked
mental capacity or was subject to undue influence at the time the will was
executed can invalidate the will. A psychiatrist may be asked to assess the
competency of a testator when he or she is planning to create or modify a
will or after the death of a testator when the will is challenged. To
provide guidelines for such evaluations, the authors reviewed the relevant
psychiatric, forensic, and legal literature and drew on their own
professional experience as well. They outline a systematic approach to the
contemporaneous and retrospective evaluation of the elements that affect
decisions about mental capacity and undue influence and offer suggestions
for the organization and presentation of expert testimony. Awareness of the
relevant legal principles and a systematic clinical approach to the
assessment can maximize the quality of the psychiatric consultation and
expert testimony.
