Indian Contract Act 1872 § 11-12
Definition
Provisions establishing that sound mind for contracting requires capacity to understand the contract and form a rational judgement as to its effect; persons who are usually of unsound mind but occasionally of sound mind may contract during lucid intervals.
- Jurisdiction
- India
- Statute
- Indian Contract Act 1872
- Sections
- 11 and 12
- Test
- Understanding the contract and forming a rational judgement of its effect
- Lucid interval doctrine
- Contract valid if made during a period of sound mind
Common questions
How does the lucid interval doctrine affect a forensic capacity assessment under these sections?+
An expert cannot rely solely on a general diagnosis such as dementia or schizophrenia, because the law asks whether the person was of sound mind at the specific moment of contracting, so the assessment must reconstruct mental state at the time of signing rather than at examination.
Is the sound mind standard under sections 11 and 12 the same as testamentary capacity?+
No, contractual capacity and testamentary capacity are assessed under separate legal tests with different thresholds, so a person found capable of one is not automatically presumed capable of the other and each requires its own evaluation.
Related terms
- Banks V. Goodfellow (1870)
- English common-law case establishing the four-element test for testamentary capacity: the testator must understand the nature of making a will, the extent...
- Functional Capacity Assessment
- Assessment of capacity in relation to a specific decision, at a specific time, requiring evaluation of whether the person can understand, retain,...
- Golden Rule (Probate)
- English probate practice guidance from Kenward v. Adams (1975) requiring solicitors taking instructions from an elderly or seriously ill testator to arrange...
- Hindu Marriage Act 1955 § 12
- Provision making a marriage voidable (rather than void) where the consent of a party was not free consent because of unsoundness of...
- Insane Delusion
- Under the Banks test, a false belief from which the testator cannot be argued, which causes them to dispose of their property...
- MacCAT-T
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Treatment; a structured instrument assessing capacity to consent to medical treatment using four domains: understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and expressing...
- Mental Capacity Act 2005 (England and Wales)
- Statute governing capacity for consent to treatment and other decisions (not testamentary capacity). Requires a person to understand, retain, weigh, and communicate...