As a lawyer, you become acquainted with many aspects of life. Here is a story from a court case I had a few years ago.
A bachelor who had lived his entire life on a country estate in Central Jutland had now entered a nursing home at the age of about 80. He had never been married and had no children.
He had some nephews and nieces, but he didn't care much for them, and he had had a housekeeper. The housekeeper's daughter had always considered the bachelor to be her father, and in the same way her son had always called him grandfather.
His will stated that the housekeeper would inherit everything upon his death, and if she had died, one of his nieces would inherit everything.
As things stand, the housekeeper dies first, and after the husband enters a nursing home, a purchase agreement is drawn up, after which the housekeeper's grandson buys the country property at a price agreed upon by the parties. Neither a lawyer nor a real estate agent is involved in the transaction.
The “grandson” then moves in and renovates the property from basement to attic.
Some time later, the bachelor dies, and the niece who inherits claims that the bachelor was demented at the time the purchase agreement was signed, and therefore could not enter into the agreement at all, and the niece therefore demands that the deal be reversed.
The property is then assessed by an independent real estate agent, who concludes that the property should have actually cost an additional DKK 550,000. During the trial, a nurse from the nursing home explains, which is also supported by the bachelor's medical record, that the bachelor was demented to such an extent that he did not always know what he was doing. However, the "grandson" explained in court that he had never experienced that the bachelor did not know what was going on and did not know what was in the medical record.
Based on the patient record and the nurse's explanation, the court concluded that the transaction should basically be reversed, but since the "grandchild" had made so many improvements to the house that it could not actually be returned in the same condition as when it was taken over, the result was that the "grandchild" had to pay DKK 500,000 to the heir.
And what can we learn from this case, and how could it have been avoided?
Firstly, the case could have been avoided if an impartial real estate agent had appraised the property before the purchase, so that no objections could be raised to the price. However, this would not have prevented the heir from claiming that the bachelor was unable to enter into an agreement due to dementia, but the heir would hardly have raised objections if the price had been right from the start.
Secondly, and to avoid the objections regarding dementia, a guardian could have been appointed who could have acted on the bachelor's behalf in connection with the transaction. The guardian could have ensured that the bachelor's interests were properly safeguarded, including that the price and terms of the transaction were justifiable.
You cannot always know whether the person you want to enter into an agreement with is demented, but if you suspect this, you should be very careful, as such an agreement can be disregarded, especially if it can be considered to be to the detriment of the person with dementia.
English 
Danish