Farnum v. Silvano
Massachusetts Court of Appeals
27 Mass. App. Ct. 536, 540 N.E.2d 202 (1989)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Viola Farnum (plaintiff), a 90-year-old woman with dementia, sold her home for approximately half of the home’s market value to Joseph Silvano (defendant), a 24-year-old man who frequently mowed Farnum’s yard. In completing the sale, Farnum was represented by an attorney selected and paid for by Silvano. After learning of the sale, Farnum’s nephew, Harry Gove (plaintiff) filed suit against Silvano on Farnum’s behalf seeking to rescind the sale. At trial, the evidence showed that Farnum’s mental competence had begun to deteriorate three years prior to the sale. Farnum was frequently confused and often asked why her long-deceased siblings no longer called her. Additionally, while at home Farnum often inquired about the “noise upstairs,” but the home had no second story. Nevertheless, the trial court found that, at the time of executing the deed, Farnum was lucid and was aware of what she was doing. Gove appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kass, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 803,000 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.
