{"id":2785,"date":"2023-05-15T09:42:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T09:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alcleanscarpet.site\/Weatherby\/2023\/05\/15\/divorce-with-dementia\/"},"modified":"2023-06-07T09:58:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T09:58:16","slug":"divorce-with-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alcleanscarpet.site\/Weatherby\/divorce-with-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"Divorce with Dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can an individual suffering from dementia legally divorce his or her spouse?\u00a0 Or to put it another way, can someone with dementia possess the legal right to divorce and initiate a lawsuit yet at the same time to lack the capacity to manage property or drive or be employed?\u00a0 To what extent should the present-day cognitive difficulties of a person with dementia be used to override the terms of an otherwise enforceable prenuptial agreement?\u00a0 And how can the well-being of the person be properly safeguarded from manipulation and exploitation by greedy family members whose interests are starkly opposed to one another?\u00a0 All these issues and more are reflected in the case of Zelman v. Zelman<\/span>, a case presently being litigated in the Palm Beach County Circuit Court.\u00a0 See Can Florida man with dementia file for divorce, Palm Beach Post, May 24, 2015,<\/em> http:\/\/www.wftv.com\/news\/news\/national\/florida-man-dementia-files-for-divorce\/nmNH9\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To briefly summarize the situation, wealthy Florida real estate investor Martin Zelman married his current wife Lois in 2000, 7 years after they began dating.\u00a0 Now 87, Martin is suffering from advancing dementia.\u00a0 Martin has a number of adult children who are not the children of Lois.\u00a0 According to Martin\u2019s adult children and their attorneys, Martin would like to get a divorce from Lois.\u00a0 However, incidental to their marriage, Martin and Lois entered into a prenuptial agreement.\u00a0 That agreement provides in pertinent part that Martin must initiate a divorce himself personally.\u00a0 Meaning under the terms of that agreement, no conservator or other legal guardian for Martin can initiate a divorce on his behalf.\u00a0 The children argue they are acting in Martin\u2019s best-interest.\u00a0 Of course, their motivations must be seen in the context of standing to inherit some $10 million of Martin\u2019s $50 million estate that would otherwise pass to Lois under the terms of the premarital agreement.<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s son Robert Zelman has taken the lead in using judicial means to try to get his step-mother out of the picture.\u00a0 Last year he initiated proceedings to declare Martin legally incompetent, arguing he was being abused by Lois, and requesting that he be appointed legal guardian for his father.\u00a0 In what is surely a novel strategy, the petition sought a declaration that Martin be deemed unfit to marry, to manage property, to drive or to work, yet preserving Martin\u2019s ability to sue and defend lawsuits<\/em>!\u00a0 Somewhat conveniently, one may observe, that preserving that right would comport with Martin\u2019s ability to divorce under the terms of the prenuptial agreement.<\/p>\n

Lois argues she has been with Martin for 22 years and that the love and affection she still feels for him has always been rooted in far more than Martin\u2019s substantial wealth.\u00a0 Her attorney maintains that the efforts of Robert and his siblings are merely cynical attempts to nullify the terms of the agreement.\u00a0 He explains that Martin has always had a generous personality and he entered into that agreement because he wanted to make sure Lois was well taken care of. He strongly argues the courts should not now set aside that agreement for sake of the greed of his Martin\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

Amidst a long string of accusations and counter-accusations levied by Lois against the children and children against Lois, the Circuit Court in Palm Beach is expected to make some key decisions this month.\u00a0 The judge is expected to entertain testimony to consider the extent that Martin really wants the divorce his children claim he wants and to determine if Martin understands what he is doing. \u00a0That decision in turn will determine whether or not a divorce proceeding should or could be initiated given the requirements of the prenuptial agreement.<\/p>\n

Please call us at 860-769-6938 if you have any questions about the issues presented above or if you care to discuss any other planning issues with us.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/weatherby-associates.com\/divorce-with-dimentia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can an individual suffering from dementia legally divorce his or her spouse?\u00a0 Or to put it another way, can someone with dementia possess the legal right to divorce and initiate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDivorce with Dementia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To briefly summarize the situation, wealthy Florida real estate investor Martin Zelman married his current wife Lois in 2000, 7 years after they began dating.\u00a0 Now 87, Martin is suffering from advancing dementia.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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