The mental capacity a testator must hold for a will to stand — what the common law test demands, when it must exist, and how it is proved.
A will made without capacity fails entirely, sending the estate back to an earlier will or down the intestacy rules, so everything else about a will's validity rests on this foundation. This chapter places capacity among the requirements for a valid will, then works through the four limbs of the common law test — understanding the act, the property, and the claims upon the testator, free from delusion. It explains how capacity operates on a sliding scale, when delusions or mental illness actually invalidate a will, the general timing rule and the exception where capacity declines after instructions are given. It closes with the burden of proof, the presumption raised by a rational and duly executed will, the role of suspicious circumstances and medical evidence, and the golden rule alongside the consequences of incapacity, including statutory wills made by the Court of Protection.
