Can a Person With Dementia Sign Legal Documents?
FEBRUARY 25, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 8 Let’s get the answer to the question out of the way first, and then we can deal with more nuance. Yes, a person with dementia may be able to sign legal documents. The inability to sign documents (what is usually known in the law as “incompetence” or, sometimes, […]
Draft Will Is Almost (But Not Quite) Admitted to Probate
SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 VOLUME 17 NUMBER 29 There is a lot of mythology, misunderstanding and just plain confusion about wills and probate. Sometimes the reported cases don’t help clarify what makes a will valid, when it is subject to challenge or even what might be a will. The general rule is clear, and ancient. The […]
Sixteenth Century Statute Reviewed By Colorado Courts
JANUARY 29, 2001 VOLUME 8, NUMBER 31 Under English practice before the sixteenth century there were no standardized requirements for making a valid will. Disposition of a decedent’s property was determined by each court under local rules and customs, and the actual division was therefore unpredictable. Henry VIII approved Parliament’s “Statute of Wills” in 1540, […]