I have a friend who has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and is now in the hospital for treatment. The situation has been going on for a long time, but has recently come to the surface to it is affecting family, friends and her job. Just prior to going into the hospital she signed a lease for an apartment while in dissociation and now the apartment complex is not allowing her out of the lease. Is there anything legally about a contract not being a binding document if the individual not being in their right mind at the time of signing?
2006-09-23 07:27:34 · 8 answers · asked by jamie63s 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Yes, you could challenge the contract's validity in court; however, doing so successfully will mean that no contract or agreement that your friend entered into will be valid, whether she wants it to be or not. Also have to take into account whether the apartment complex was acting in good faith - did they have any reason to believe that your friend was not qualified to enter into a lease?
add: Judge will also need to know the reason that your friend wants the lease nullified. If it's because she wasn't sane at the time, already had a place to live, thought that Jesus needed her to get him a place, whatever... (not trying to be insulting, just giving an extreme example) or - is there some other reason that she wants out of it and this is just a loophole to get out of a lease that she doesn't want anymore.
2006-09-23 07:31:43 · answer #1 · answered by UNITool 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she wasn't in a sane state of mind when she signed the contract then she is going to have to give up some type of documentation stating that that she has an illness before the complex will agree to let her out of that binding contract
2006-09-23 07:34:51 · answer #2 · answered by KIMBERLY F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the traditional defenses to the formation of a binding contract is "Lack of capacity to contract." Minors and the mentally incompetent lack the legal capacity to enter into contracts. All others are generally assumed to have full power to bind themselves by entering into contracts. In most states, the legal age for entering into contracts is 18. The test for mental capacity is whether the party understood the nature and consequences of the transaction in question. If the answer is "no", then a court has the power to void the contract.
2006-09-23 07:39:27 · answer #3 · answered by esq98swlaw 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The agreement is non-binding only if the person was in a state unable to make decisions when she made the contract. If she was "sane" when she made the contract, then yes, she's responsible.
2006-09-23 07:31:42 · answer #4 · answered by adphllps 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is nothing about mental illness that prohibits a person from entering into contracts. Had she been legally adjudged mentally incompetent at the time then her contracts would be voidable by her guardian or by the court.
2006-09-23 07:40:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contracts are not binding if all parties are not in there right mind. If one party to the contract(K) is seen to be not in there right mind the K becomes null and void.
2006-09-23 07:34:06 · answer #6 · answered by mshoward1204 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'd better consult with a lawyer real quick on that one. If the person is mentally ill (and the case is DOCUMENTED) I don't see how that person can be held responsible for anything. But if it is one of those odd "on again off again" thing, then that person is in real trouble. Yes, get thee to a lawyer, quick.
2006-09-23 07:32:34 · answer #7 · answered by robert43041 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All signed agreements are null and void.
2006-09-23 07:29:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋