Law of Wills, 2016A

This contention, however, is not supported by the court’s findings that Mr. Watlack made
arrangements to see an attorney about a new will shortly after an outburst with the Freemans
wherein he accused them of stealing his money; while meeting with Mr. Nealey about the will, he
stated he did not want to leave his children anything and again accused his daughter of stealing his
money; and at the will signing again became agitated and angry with his daughter, pounding his fist
on the desk and accusing her of stealing his money. Instead, the facts here indicate Mr. Watlack’s
insane delusion was the controlling reason for the new disposition in his June 22, 1988, will. In
summary, the findings of fact support the conclusion that the June 22, 1988, will is a product of an
insane delusion.
HOLDING
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Notes, Problems, and Questions
1. Any person can be delusional and still be capable of executing a will. The problem occurs when
the delusion is insane and the manner in which the testator distributes her property is influenced by
that delusion. Hence, when evaluating the cases, you need to engage in a three step analysis. First,
you must identify the delusion. Second, you must decide whether or not that delusion is insane.
Insanity is not a psychological term; it is a legal term. 88 A delusion is insane if the person holds on to
the belief despite facts to the contrary. Third, you must determine whether or not the insane
delusion was the motivating factor behind the testator’s decision to dispose of his or her property in
a certain way. Review the facts of the two cases in this section and do the three step analysis. Did
you come out with the same result as the courts?
Class Discussion Tools
(a) 75 year old Jillian met with a lawyer to have him draft her will. During the initial interview, Jillian
told the lawyer that she wanted to leave her house to Mr. Giggles. When the lawyer asked for Mr.
Giggles’ address, Jillian opened up a box and produced a small monkey dressed in a black and red
leather suit. Jillian said, “Say hello to the man Mr. Giggles.” Jillian stated that she wanted to leave the
house to Mr. Giggles so that he could have some place to live after she died. She also said that she
was disinheriting her only daughter, Anne, because Anne was trying to kill Mr. Giggles. What should
the lawyer do? If he executes the will, what are the chances that Anne will be able to successfully
challenge Jillian’s capacity? What additional information do you need to answer this question?
(b) Roger, a 77 year old widow, suffered from anxiety disorder. In addition to therapy, Roger’s
doctor gave him a prescription for medical marijuana and told him to smoke two joints a day. Roger
had three children, Lester, Nathan and Charmaine. Every morning Charmaine made Roger a green
smoothie. She put powered wheatgrass in the smoothie to give Roger an energy boost. Diane,
Roger’s neighbor, told him that she heard Dr. Oz say that wheatgrass caused cancer. Diane wore a
hearing aid, so she missed the fact that Dr. Oz actually said that wheatgrass helped prevent cancer.
Roger refused to drink the smoothie if Charmaine put the wheatgrass in it, so Charmaine started
88
Doughtery v. Rubenstein, 914 A.2d 184, 193-94 (Md. 2007).
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