Non compos mentis - sustany/dvg GitHub Wiki

The Latin non compos mentis translates as �not of sound mind.�� In the 1928 Hellman Commercial Trust & Savings Bank v. Alden opinion, the Supreme Court of California stated that the term�s legal usage encompassed �all degrees of mental incompetency known to the law� and compared it to the Standard Dictionary definition of an �unsound mind.� �In specifying the term�s legal scope, the Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, in the 1985 Goza v. Goza holding, noted that �[m]ere emotional instability or depression� does not qualify as non compos mentis, and that while the term �does not necessarily denote a total destruction of the intellect, � there must be at least such a severe impairment of the mental faculties as to make the movant incapable of protecting himself or of managing his affairs.�� The United States Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit provided a similar definition in the 1998 Smith-Haynie v. District of Columbia opinion to clarify the term�s meaning, as found in Section 12-302 of the Code of the District of Columbia. The court wrote that the disability of a person claiming to be non compos mentis must be �of such a nature as to show [she] is unable to manage [her] business affairs or estate, or to comprehend [her] legal rights or liabilities.�