Il testatore fragile

The paper concerns the possibility that the testator finds himself (or herself) in a state of vulnerability. This case will be examined with reference to the following legal provisions: Articles 591 and 624 of the Italian Civil Code. The first one concerns the lack of testamentary capacity, whilst the second one is referred to the possible vices in the testator’s consent, including the hypothesis in which fraud was applied (bearing in mind that, when the use of fraud affects the process of drafting a testament, the proper Italian term appears to be “captazione” rather than the generic “dolo”). Furthermore, the analysis carried out will focus on two cases of vulnerability: the state of fragility that could derive from functional illiteracy and the one caused, in certain circumstances, by old age.