The court considered the form of appointment of a solicitor as executor in a will. The will had appointed a partnership firm of solicitors ‘who may act through any partner or partners of that firm or their successors in business at the date of my death not exceeding two in number to be the executors and trustees of this my will’, but the firm not having a personality in law probate could not be granted probate to it.
Latey J said: ‘testators often want their solicitors to act as executors and, in case the individual solicitors they have in mind at the time of giving instructions pre-decease them, they want an appointment which will enable succeeding partners to act. Also they want such appointment to cover such contingencies as the sale of the practice or its amalgamation with another . .
The law does not permit the appointment as executor of a partnership firm as such. Where a will is so phrased as to purport to do this, the court construes it as appointing the individual partners as executor . .
Mr Bingham [for the Law Society] argued that prima facie it is wholly inappropriate to say: ‘I appoint X, Y and Z and they can act through A, B and C.’ But, he says, meaning can be given to it if one were to treat the firm as though it were a company and say ‘I want the partners at the date of my death . . ‘ the natural construction of the clause as a whole is that the testator was contemplating and intending the appointment of all [the partners], a grant to two and power reserved to the others.’
References: [1971] P 50
Judges: Latey J
This case is cited by:
- Cited – Rogers, Re In the Estate of ChD 6-Apr-2006
The deceased appointed partners in a firm of solicitors to act as her executors. The firm merged into a limited liability partnership. The partners in the new firm appeal against refusal of the court to grant probate, the probate registrars having . .
(, [2006] EWHC 753 (Ch), Times 03-May-06, [2006] 2 All ER 792, [2006] 1 WLR 1577)
These lists may be incomplete.
Last Update: 27 November 2020; Ref: scu.240150 br>
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