## Facts

- In 1961, David Royer Geitner was adjudicated incompetent due to paranoid schizophrenia, and First National Bank of Catawba County was appointed guardian of his estate.
- In 1975, a court found Geitner was not harmful to himself or others; he was released from inpatient care and lived independently with outpatient support.
- In April 1980, Geitner met Marcia Townsend at a community mental health facility; Townsend had serious physical impairments but no mental disability.
- On May 29, 1980, Geitner and Townsend married and began living together in Geitner’s home.
- The guardian bank filed an action to annul the marriage, arguing the prior incompetency adjudication rendered Geitner incapable of entering a valid marriage.
- Geitner intervened through a guardian ad litem to defend the marriage’s validity.
- After lay and expert testimony on Geitner’s capacity at the time of marriage, a jury found Geitner had sufficient mental capacity to enter the marriage contract on May 29, 1980.

## Issues

1. Under North Carolina law, is a marriage entered by a person lacking mental capacity void as a matter of law or merely voidable until annulled?
2. Is a prior adjudication of incompetency conclusive proof of incapacity to marry at a later date, thereby barring marriage?
3. Did the evidence require a directed verdict or judgment notwithstanding the verdict for the guardian on capacity to marry, or was capacity properly a jury question?

## Decision

- The court affirmed the judgment upholding the marriage and affirmed denial of the guardian’s motions for directed verdict, JNOV, and a new trial.
- The court held that a marriage entered without sufficient understanding is voidable, not void, and remains valid for civil purposes unless annulled in a direct proceeding.
- The court held that a prior incompetency adjudication is not conclusive on later capacity to marry and does not categorically prevent marriage.
- The court held there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Geitner had capacity to marry on May 29, 1980.

## Legal Principles

- In North Carolina, marriage by a person “incapable of contracting for want of understanding” is voidable rather than void; a voidable marriage remains valid until annulled by a competent tribunal.
- The controlling inquiry is the party’s mental capacity at the time the marriage is celebrated.
- Capacity to marry turns on whether the person can understand the special nature of marriage and the duties and responsibilities it entails, based on the facts and circumstances.
- Guardianship or a prior incompetency determination may be evidence bearing on marital capacity, but it is not conclusive because standards for guardianship incompetency and capacity to marry differ.
- Where evidence on capacity at the time of marriage is conflicting and supports either conclusion, the question is for the jury, and directed verdict/JNOV is improper.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the validity of the marriage, ruling that a prior incompetency adjudication and ongoing guardianship did not automatically invalidate a later marriage; instead, the marriage was at most voidable upon proof of incapacity at the time of the ceremony, and sufficient evidence supported the jury’s finding of capacity.


Geitner v. Townsend, 312 S.E.2d 236 (N.C. Ct. App. 1984)