rawstron_freudChD1407
References: [2014] EWHC 2577 (Ch)
Links: Bailii
Coram: Richard Spearman QC
Ratio: The court considered the construction of a point in the deceased’s will. The clause said: ‘I GIVE all the residue of my estate (out of which shall be paid my funeral and testamentary expenses and my debts) and any property over which I have a general power of appointment to the said Diana Mary Rawstron and the said Rose Pearce jointly’. The executors said that this was not an absolute gift but was subject to a secret trust. The defendant said that it was a half secret trust which failed, so that the residue fell into intestacy.
Held: A secret trust was one where both the terms and very existence of te trust was hidde. A half secret trust was where the terms only were hidden, but not the fact of the trust. The gift in clause 6 was expressed as a simple gift of residue, and clause 6 contained no mention of a trust. The new will change dthe relevant wordings, and it was unrealistic to suggest that Lucian Freud did not have an appreciation of secret trusts.
In the light of (a) the natural and ordinary meaning of the words used in clause 6 of the Will, (b) the overall purpose of the Will, (c) the other provisions of the Will, (d) the material factual matrix when the Will was made and (e) common sense, and the Claimants’ interpretation of clause 6 of the Will was to be preferred to that suggested by the Defendant. The claim therefore succeeded.
Statutes: Administration of Justice Act 1982 21
This case cites:
- Cited – Saltmarsh v Barrett HL ([1861] EngR 816, Commonlii, (1861) 3 De G F and J 279, (1861) 45 ER 885)
A testator after directing payment of his debts, funeral and testamentary expenses and legacies, bequeathed some legacies to charities, and gave to three persons legacies of nineteen guineas each, and appointed them executors. He then bequeathed . . - Cited – Royal Society for The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals v Sharp and Others CA (Bailii, [2010] EWCA Civ 1474)
The Society appealed against an order construing a will. The will had made a gift of the maximum allowed before payment of inheritance tax, and then a gift of a house. The Society argued that the house gift should be deducted before calculation of . . - Cited – Marley v Rawlings and Another SC (Bailii, [2014] UKSC 2, [2014] 2 WLR 213, [2014] WTLR 299, 16 ITELR 642, [2014] 1 All ER 807, [2014] WLR(D) 18, [2014] Fam Law 466, Bailii Summary, WLRD, UKSC 2012/0057, SC Summary, SC)
A husband and wife had each executed the will which had been prepared for the other, owing to an oversight on the part of their solicitor; the question which arose was whether the will of the husband, who died after his wife, was valid. The parties . . - Cited – Williams v Arkle HL ((1875) LR 7 HL 606)
The testator had a sister, a wife, and two illegitimate children. His appointed George Arkle (‘GA’), if GA should survive him, his executor and trustee, but if GA should die in his lifetime he appointed Benjamin Arkle (‘BA’). He then gave ‘the . . - Cited – In re Rees CA ([1950] 1 Ch 204)
The testator appointed a friend and his solicitor as executors and trustees of his will. He devised and bequeathed the whole of his property ‘(subject to payment of my funeral and testamentary expenses and debts) unto my trustees absolutely they . .
(This list may be incomplete)
Last Update: 31 January 2019
Ref: 535481
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