REVIEWS   

Minerva Medicolegale 2008 June;128(2):93-103

Copyright © 2008 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

The soporous state and the ability to know and understand: analysis of a court case

Arcangeli M. ¹, Vaccaro M. ², Panici M. ²

¹ Cattedra di Medicina Legale Università degli Studi di L’Aquila, L’Aquila 2 Dipartimento di Medicina Legale Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Roma

The authors examined the topic of the testamentary capacity, through the analysis of a trial-like story. A person considered to be “capable of making his/her will”, until proven the contrary, is he/she who has reached the legal age, because it is when a person is able to perfectly understand the meaning of “property”. And he/she is also aware of the legal, economic and moral effects which are inherent to drawing up a will. In that particular case, the authors considered the testamentary capacity of a patient whom, on the day in which he drew up his holographic will, was considered to be in a “soporific” status, by the medical staff who cared for his health.