In re Matson

Prior to the enactment of section 51-a of the Mental Hygiene Law this court denied an application made by the State Department of Mental Hygiene for permission to inspect the contents of a safe deposit box which had been leased from a safe deposit company by an individual, who, at the time of the application, was a patient in a State institution for the mentally ill. The patient had not been judicially declared incompetent at the time of the application, and no committee of her person or property had been appointed. The application was denied upon the ground that “ the relief sought would…