Estate of McGovern v. Commonwealth, State Employees' Retirement Board

I dissent. In view of the obvious diminished mental capacity of the decedent Francis J. McGovern, I would hold that the contract created by decedent’s election of option 3 and the designation of his then terminally ill wife as his sole beneficiary is voidable. The evidence introduced at the hearing before the State Employes’ Retirement Board (Board) is clear and persuasive. It shows that the decedent was laboring in a defective mental state when he signed his job termination and retirement papers on December 17, 1980. The decedent’s flawed mental condition rendered him *388unable to act…