The Law of Wills, Trusts and Inheritance
Part of the common law series
Wills
Wills  · Holographic will
Joint wills and mutual wills  · Will contract
Codicils
Parts of a Will
Attestation clause  · Residuary clause
Incorporation by reference
Contesting a Will
Testamentary capacity  · Undue influence
Insane delusion  · Fraud
Problems of property disposition
Lapse and anti-lapse
Ademption  · Abatement
Acts of independent significance
Elective share  · Pretermitted heir
Trusts
The Law of Trusts
Generic Terms:
Express trust  · Constructive trust
Resulting trust
Common Types of Trust:
Bare trust · Discretionary trust
Accumulation and Maintenance trust
Interest in Possession trust
Charitable trust
Other Specific Types of Trust:
Protective trust  · Spendthrift trust
Life insurance trust  · Remainder trust
Life interest trust  · Reversionary interest trust
Honorary trust  · Asset-protection trust
Special needs trust: (general)/(U.S.)
Doctrines governing trusts
Pour-over will  · Cy pres doctrine
Other related topics
Living Wills (advance directives)
Inheritance
Intestacy  · Testator  · Probate
Power of appointment
Simultaneous death  · Slayer rule
Disclaimer of interest
Other areas of the Common Law
Contract law  · Tort law  · Property law
Criminal law  · Evidence

An insane delusion is the legal term of art in the common law tradition used to describe a false conception of reality that a testator of a will adheres to against all reason and evidence to the contrary. A will made by a testator suffering from an insane delusion that affects the provisions made in the will may fail in whole or in part. Only the portion of the will caused by the insane delusion fails, including potentially the entire will. Will contests often involve claims that the testator was suffering from an insane delusion. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ... Equality and the balancing of interests under law is symbolised by a blindfold and weighing scales For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ... Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... A holographic will is a will and testament that has been entirely handwritten and signed by the testator. ... -1... A will contract is a term used in the law of wills describing a contract to exchange a current performance for a future bequest. ... A codicil is a document that amends, rather than replaces, a previously executed will. ... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... In the statutory law of wills and trusts, an attestation clause is a clause that is typically appended to a will, often just below the place of the testators signature. ... A residuary estate, in the law of wills, is any portion of the testators estate that is not specifically devised to someone in the will, or any property that is part of such a specific devise that fails. ... Incorporation by reference is a doctrine of the common law of wills by which a person may state in his will that certain property is to be disposed of by a seperate document, describing the place where the document will be found. ... A will contest, in the law of property, is a formal objection raised against the validity of a will, based on the contention that the will does not reflect the actual intent of the testator (the party who made the will). ... In the common law tradition, testamentary capacity is the legal term of art used to describe a persons legal and mental ability to make a valid will. ... Undue influence (as a term in jurisprudence) is an equitable doctrine that involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. ... Lapse and anti-lapse are complementary concepts under the law of wills, which address the disposition of property that is willed to someone who dies before the testator (the writer of the will). ... Ademption is a term used in the law of wills to determine what happens when property bequested under a will is no longer in the testators estate when the testator dies. ... Abatement (derived through the French abattre, from the Late Latin battere, to beat), a beating down or diminishing or doing away with; a term used especially in various legal phrases. ... The doctrine of acts of independent significance, in the common law of wills, permits the testator to effectively change the disposition of her property without changed her will, if acts or events with relation to the property itself have some significance beyond avoiding the requirements of the will. ... An elective share is a term used in American law relating to inheritance, which describes a proportion of an estate which the surviving spouse of the deceased may claim in place of what they were left in the decedents will. ... A pretermitted heir is a term used in the law of property to describe a person who would likely stand to inherit under a will, except that the testator (the person who wrote the will) did not know or did not know of the party at the time the will... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ... Where property is passed to a person but no gift is made, it is held for the owner, this is the Resulting trust; where property should for some reason of public policy or fairness or rule of Equity be held for someone other than the legal owner, this is either... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A resulting trust is a type of implied trust created through implication of law where the actions of the parties involved and the nature of the transaction implies an intention to create a trust. ... A bare trust is one in which the beneficiary has a right to both income and capital and may call for both to be remitted into their own name, they are also entitled to take actual ownership and control of the trust property. ... A discretionary trust[1] is a trust where the beneficiaries and/or their entitlements to the trust fund are not fixed, but are determined by the criteria set out in the trust instrument by the settlor. ... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ... A charitable trust (or charity) is a trust organized to serve private or public charitable purposes. ... The Protective Trust is a form of settlement found in England and Wales and several Commonwealth countries. ... A spendthrift trust is a trust that is created for the benefit of a person who is in debt (often because they are unable to control their spending) that gives an independent trustee full authority to make decisions as to how the trust funds may be spent for the benefit... In the U.S., proper ownership of life insurance is important if the insurance proceeds are to escape federal estate taxation. ... An honorary trust, under the law of trusts, is a device by which a person establishes a trust for which there is neither a charitable purpose, nor a private beneficiary to enforce the trust. ... An asset-protection trust is a term which covers a wide spectrum of legal structures. ... Special Needs Trusts are created to ensure that beneficiaries who are developmentally disabled or mentally ill can receive inheritances without losing access to essential government benefits. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... In common law legal systems, a trust is a contractual relationship in which a person or entity (the trustee) has legal title to certain property (the trust property or trust corpus), but is bound by a fiduciary duty to exercise that legal control for the benefit of one or more... A pour-over will is a testamentary device wherein the writer of a will creates a trust, and decrees in the will that the property in his estate at the time of his death shall be placed in the trust. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A living will, also called will to live, advance health directive, or advance health care directive, is a specific type of power of attorney or health care proxy or advance directive. ... Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of his or her enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies... A testator is a person who has made a legally binding will or testament, which specifies what is to be done with that persons penis family and/or property after death. ... Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person; specifically, resolving all claims and distributing the decedents property. ... A power of appointment is a term most frequently used in the law of wills to describe the ability of the testator (the person writing the will) to select a person who will be given the authority to dispose of certain property under the will. ... Simultaneous death is a problem of inheritence which occurs when two people (usually a husband and wife) die at the same time in an accident. ... The slayer rule, in the common law of inheritance, is a doctrine that prohibits inheritence by a person who murders someone from whom they stand to inherit. ... Disclaimer of interest (also called a renunciation), in the law of inheritance, wills and trusts, is a term that describes an attempt by a person to renounce their legal right to benefit from an inheritance (either under a will or through intestacy) or through a trust. ... A contract is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides a remedy. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. ... Equality and the balancing of interests under law is symbolised by a blindfold and weighing scales For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... Jargon redirects here. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... A testator is a person who has made a legally binding will or testament, which specifies what is to be done with that persons penis family and/or property after death. ... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... A will contest, in the law of property, is a formal objection raised against the validity of a will, based on the contention that the will does not reflect the actual intent of the testator (the party who made the will). ...

An insane delusion is distinct from testamentary capacity. A testator might be suffering from an insane delusion but otherwise possess the requisite capacity to make a will. Similarly, an insane delusion is distinct from a mere mistake. If suffering from an insane delusion, a testator is not subject to change his or her mind regarding the delusion if presented with contrary evidence, whereas a mistake is capable of being corrected if the testator is told the truth. Additionally, while an insane delusion may cause portions of a will to fail, most courts will not reform or invalidate a will because of a mistake unless it was the result of fraud.^[1] In the common law tradition, testamentary capacity is the legal term of art used to describe a persons legal and mental ability to make a valid will. ...

Origin

The insane delusion concept was created in the 1826 British case Dew v. Clark. In that case, a father believed that his daughter was "the devil incarnate" and disinherited her in his will of 1818. After her father's death, evidence presented by the daughter showed that she was well-known for her good disposition and that her father had falsely told others that he lavished his daughter with praise and wealth. The probate court found that the father's mindset when he made the 1818 will was normal in all respects except toward his daughter. The court found that his thoughts about her, "did and could only proceed from, and be founded in, insanity," a "partial insanity" that only extended to his thoughts about his daughter and caused him to disinherit her. The court said that this delusion caused the will to fail.^[2] The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person; specifically, resolving all claims and distributing the decedents property. ...

Examples

In the 1854 case Addington v. Wilson, the Supreme Court of Indiana held that a testator who disinherited his daughters because he believed them to be witches was not for that reason alone so insane as to deem him incapable of making a valid will. The court justified its decision by pointing to distinguished jurists and religious figures who affirmed the possibility of witchcraft; if these people's beliefs did not render them insane, neither did the testator's.^[3] 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ... Witch redirects here. ...

In In re Robertson's Estate, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that a testator who declared that he had "no children" and "no deceased children" in his will, when he actually had two living children, was suffering from an insane delusion, as the testator had "no rational basis whatsoever" to declare that he had no children.^[4] Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ...

References