swarb.co.uk - law index
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Health - From: 1930 To: 1959
This page lists 3 cases, and was prepared on 27 May 2018.
Manches v Trimborn (1946) 115 LJKB 305
1946
Hallett J
Health
The answer to the question whether the mental capacity necessary in order to render the consent of the party concerned a real consent was present in any particular case would depend on the nature of the transaction.
1 Citers
In re Estate of Park (deceased), Park v Park [1953] 2 All ER 1411; [1954] P 112; [1954] 97 Sol Jo 830
2 Jan 1953
CA
Birkett LJ, Hodson LJ, Singleton LJ
Family, Health
The deceased had remarried. His beneficiaries asserted that he had lacked capacity and that the marriage was ineffective. Held: The test of capacity to marry is whether he or she was capable of understanding the nature of the contract, was free of morbid delusions, and capable of appreciating the normal duties and responsibilities of a marriage. The test of capacity is issue specific. A person might have capacity for one purpose while simultaneously lacking it for another. Singleton LJ said: "Was the deceased on the morning of May 30, 1949, capable of understanding the nature of the contract into which he was entering, or was his mental condition such that he was incapable of understanding it? To understand the nature of the contract of marriage a man must be mentally capable of appreciating that it involves the responsibilities normally attaching to marriage. Without that degree of mentality, it cannot be said that he understands the nature of the contract." The decision was affirmed.
1 Cites
1 Citers
Gibbons v Wright (1954) 91 CLR 423
1954
Sir Owen Dixon
Commonwealth, Health
(High Court of Australia) Sir Owen Dixon discussed the principle that mental capacity at law varied with the transaction at issue: "the mental capacity required by the law in respect of any instrument is relative to the particular transaction which is being effected by means of the instrument, and may be described as the capacity to understand the nature of that transaction when it is explained."
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