Mother Says Anita Mui Mentally Impaired When She Signed Will

Dying Hong Kong pop icon Anita Mui was suffering from an illness that might have left her mentally impaired when she signed her will, a news report said Thursday. The singer-actress, who died of cervical cancer in 2003 at the age of 40, was diagnosed with an illness of the central nervous system a day after signing her will in hospital.

Mui's mother, Tam Mei-kam, is challenging her daughter's will drawn up less than a month before Mui's death, which left her monthly payments of 70,000 Hong Kong dollars (9,000 US dollars) out of a multimillion-dollar fortune.

The will left two properties to her close friend, designer Eddie Lau, and gave money to nephews, nieces and a Buddhist charity.

Doctors testifying at Wednesday's High Court hearing confirmed Mui was suffering from hepatic encephalopathy and displayed interrupted speech, dizziness and a dull mental state.

One of the doctors, Peter Teo, who witnessed the signing of the will on December 3, 2003, diagnosed her with the illness the following day, the South China Morning Post reported.

However, he said he believed Mui was mentally capable of making a will until she fell into a coma on December 24, six days before her death. The hearing in Hong Kong's High Court continued Thursday.

Mui's mother claimed that her daughter did not have the mental capacity to draw up a will in the days before her death and wants it declared invalid, which would entitle her to the entire estate.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Mother-Says-Anita-Mui-Mentally-Impaired-When-She-Signed-Will-talk528465.html