Court nullifies marriage after widow fails to prove that husband was of sound mind when he said "I do"

THE Western Cape High Court has overturned the marriage of a man who lacked the mental ability to comprehend nature and consequences of marriage, saying the widow failed to provide expert evidence that her husband was of sound mind when he said "I do".

The executor of the estate of the man, only identified as Mr R, turned to court to dispute the valid exchanging of vows. The court was asked to declare the marriage null and void. 

It was argued that the deceased, who had suffered permanent neurocognitive impairments, was of unsound mind at the time due to severe cognitive and behavioural impairments from a stroke and vascular dementia.

The new wife contested this and tried to convince the court that Mr R was of sound mind when they got married. However, she did not provide expert evidence to support this, even though the court gave her several chances.

A neurologist said the deceased suffered an acute MCA stroke in May 2017 - a year before his marriage - leading to severe mental problems. He was admitted to care due to confusion and aggression.

The deceased, according to this expert, was not of sound mind and incapable of making major life decisions during his May 2017 examination.

A psychiatrist agreed and said less than a month before the marriage, he found the deceased's clinical state unchanged, with permanent neurocognitive and behavioural impairments. 

A curator was appointed a year before the marriage to handle all Mr R's personal affairs, as he was incapable of doing so himself. He was still under curatorship when he got married.

Acting Judge Pinda Njokweni commented that the general rule is that majors are presumed mentally and legally competent to manage their own affairs until the contrary is proved.

"The onus of proving that a transaction is invalid for want of mental capacity normally rests on the party alleging it. However, where the court has declared a person to be of unsound mind, and incapable of managing his or her own affairs, such certification creates a rebuttable presumption of incapacity, shifting the burden of proof to the party who wants to hold the certified person bound by the transaction," the judge said.

It was also pointed out that in terms of the Common Law, the general principle is that if a person is not able to fully understand or interpret all the consequences of his actions due to a mental illness or intellectual disability, it is said that such person lacks capacity to perform a specific act and the act is consequently void.

"It makes no difference whether the person has not yet been declared mentally ill and a curator appointed to him or her, or that the other party to the transaction was unaware of the person's mental condition," the judge said.

Judge Njokweni said the person who claims the person under curatorship had full capacity to enter into the legal transaction must prove that fact, which the wife did not.

Cape Times