Temporary Insanity a Valid Argument to Invalidate a Will? In Probate its Called an “Insane Delusion.”

There are numerous ways to contest a will. Contesting a will is a legal challenge that seeks to void the document. One reason a Florida Probate Court will invalidate a will is under the guise that it is  a product of an “insane delusion.” This can be viewed in a similar light to the defense of temporary insanity in criminal cases. 

• Insane Delusion under Florida law is defined as a fixed false belief that has no basis in fact. A testator that has a mistaken conclusion and refuses to accept substantial evidence of their mistake may not have the requisite capacity to execute a will. This is sometimes called monomania.
• Other Florida Courts have expanded the definition. Under the expanded definition the false belief must be persistently adhered to against all evidence and reason.
• Insane Delusions are a specific type of mental incapacity that may or may not affect the rest of the person’s competency. In short, a party that suffers from an insane delusion may still be competent as a whole.

Insane delusions take many forms some common examples from Florida cases include:

•  A mother disinheriting her daughter after claiming the daughter had not visited for over eleven years when evidence showed multiple visits during that time.
•  An elderly widow who thinks one of her grandchildren is dead and thus does not include them in the will. 
• A testator (the person who writes the will and later passes away) was in the hospital and in great pain and wrote a new will disinheriting her caretaker and leaving all of the estate to charity.

This last example can be seen in the 2006 case of Rescue Mission Inc., v. Roberts, 943 So.2d 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). In Roberts the Court noted that the doctor testified to the effects of the drugs and evidence showed the caretaker regularly took care of the testator and her dog. Furthermore in the execution of the new will the testator stated she believed the caretaker never visited her and killer her dog. Given thedelusion the new will was set aside.

1. Insane delusions sadly are more common that many would like to admit. It is a sad truth of life that people tend to cognitively be less aware as they slip into old age and/or are heavily sedated due to medical infirmities.
2. These are key times where one looks to their mortality and inevitably some will decide in that time to invalidate or amend a previous will.
3. Heirs and others should be aware of the insane delusion exclusion and know that such a challenge to the will could set it aside.

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