Estate of Armstrong v. Armstrong
Mississippi Supreme Court
170 So.3d 510 (2015)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Paranoid schizophrenic John Armstrong (defendant) killed his mother. The state found him not competent to stand trial for murder and committed him to a mental hospital. His mother’s will left her estate to all five of her children, and named John’s brother, Terry Armstrong (plaintiff), as executor. Terry asked the probate court to declare the devise to John void under Mississippi’s Slayer Statute, which prevents someone who willfully killed another from inheriting from the victim. The court declared the devise void but put John’s share in a trust pending appeal. John’s guardian ad litem appealed, arguing that John lacked the mental capacity to commit a willful act, meaning the Slayer Statute did not apply.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Randolph, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
