DMM (Alzheimer's : power of attorney) [2017] EWCOP 32

​​Does the fact that a second marriage would revoke an existing will be information that a person should be able to understand, retain, use and weigh to have capacity to marry? The court concluded that it was.

The P suffered from Alzheimer's. He had been married before but was divorced. He had 3 daughters from this marriage. He had been living with his current partner for 20 years. His will provided that the 3 daughters would benefit substantially and the partner by around £300,000. The issue here was that the P wanted to marry his partner, which would automatically revoke the will, in turn resulting in a much more favourable split for the partner. The court had to determine whether the legal test for whether a person has capacity to marry includes a requirement that the person should be able to understand, retain, use and weigh information as to the reasonably foreseeable financial consequences of a marriage, including that the marriage would automatically revoke the person's will.

The court decided that there is a requirement that the person should be able to understand, retain, use and weigh information as to the reasonably foreseeable financial consequences of a marriage, including that the marriage would automatically revoke the person's will.

​Read the full text of the judgment on Bailii