Special Legal Podcasts
Recently I listened to a 3-part series of interviews of F. Lee Bailey on "Coast to Coast". Not only were the interviews interesting, they were what we think are a true sign of the Podcast times. These were informal discussions with one of the great American lawyers. They were done at his home and F. Lee Bailey provided us with some wonderful war stories as well as some guidance to the profession as a whole for the future.
It seems to us that the fact that someone can go online and listen for free to a legal icon is truly the spirit of what Podcasting is today.
We hope to present some Canadian legal heroes in future "Hull on Estates" Podcasts and we will keep you posted.
Hull on Estates Podcast Episode No. 6 Our 6th Podcast for "Hull on Estates" was aired on May 2, 2006. During this Podcast, we discussed the following:
- age restrictions to keep in mind when drafting a will;
- requisite mental capacity; and
- the issue of insane delusions.
Episode 6 began our mini-series on testamentary capacity. While we had generally reviewed the concept in our earlier Podcasts, during this Episode, and Episodes 7, 8 and 9, we worked through in significant detail the whole issue of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud and mistake.
The listeners were reminded that Suzana and I were working from some cases which were cited in the legal textbook "Macdonell, Sheard and Hull on Probate Practice", (4th Ed.). by Rodney Hull, Q.C. and Ian M. Hull, published by Carswell.
At the outset, we noted the general rule that a testator must have attained a sufficient age to have capacity to make a Will and, in Ontario, that age is 18 years old. There were some exceptions, of course, which were reviewed by Suzana.
We then turned to a full description and discussion of mental capacity. Suzana noted the often-quoted passage in Boyse v. Rossborough (1857), 6 H.L.C. 2 at 45, 10 E.R. 1192, where the court said:
"There is no difficulty in the case of a raving madman or of a driveling idiot, in saying that he is not a person capable of disposing of property. But between such an extreme case 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 for noon; but at what precise moment twilight becomes darkness is hard to determine."
Suzana and I continued the discussion around the question of mental capacity and the difficulties that arise when dealing with the "grey-area" client who may or may not have mental capacity.We then went on to again discuss the case of Banks v. Goodfellow (1870), L.R. 5, Q.B. 549. I noted that even today, courts in both Canada and the U.S. review testamentary capacity cases by first starting with the Banks v. Goodfellow analysis.
Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast Episode No. 6 Our 6th Podcast for "Hull on Estate and Succession Planning" was also aired on May 2, 2006. During this Podcast, we discussed the following:
- the general role of the executor;
- collecting and distributing assets; and
- applying for probate.
