One issue that Realtors and all fiduciaries must deal with is whether or not a client has capacity to sign documents.
Capacity or competence may be judged differently when entering into a contract or executing a will. I recently had a situation where we met with the seller of real property to sign sales documents. He was under the influence of pain killing drugs after a major operation. On first look, the client sounded “off”. We asked the doctor if the client could be weaned off of the drugs. Over 3 days the dosage was tapered off. When we met the next time the client was able to answer a number of questions clearly. The client’s sister, the notary and I agreed he was acting “normally”. Obviously that is a subjective determination. I then reviewed the terms of the contract with my client. He was able to understand them and displayed no evidence of being “off”. I don’t know if there is a clearly defined way to determine capacity. After all, each circumstance is unique. My thought is that if you have any doubts whatsoever, seek another opinion.
