The estate trustee sought partition and sale of residential property, alleging that the deceased's 7/13 interest remained an estate asset because a 2002 transfer deed to the respondent was invalid.
After a mini-trial on ownership, the court found the moving party failed to prove incapacity despite evidence of early-stage Alzheimer's disease, and accepted that the deceased understood the transfer and intended to gift her interest.
The court also held that non-registration of the transfer deed did not invalidate the gift as against the donor or her estate once the executed deed had been delivered to counsel for registration.
The application for partition was dismissed because the respondent owned the property outright at the deceased's death.
