What is the test for a testamentary capacity of a man who is not a "raving madman or drivelling idiot"?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from James v. Field, 2001 BCCA 267 (CanLII):

In a case such as this, I think the question of testamentary capacity must be regarded as one of degree. The following observation in Boyse v. Rossborough, supra, at 613, is apposite: But between [the extreme case of a raving madman or a drivelling idiot] and that of a man of perfectly sound and vigorous understanding, there is every shade of intellect, every degree of mental capacity. There is no possibility of mistaking midnight from noon, but at what precise moment twilight becomes darkness is hard to determine.

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