It is not uncommon when making a Will to misspell to whom a legacy is to be left to, or to incorrectly list an organisation. This is most common when dealing with homemade Wills and may lead to a legacy being invalid unless the Court declares otherwise.
This issue was highlighted in the recent case of Knipe v British Drivers’ Motor Sport Charity.
Knipe v British Drivers’ Motor Sport Charity
In this case, the deceased left part of her residual estate to “the British Racing Drivers’ Club Benevolent Fund” as well as the “Cancer Research Fund”. Neither of these beneficiaries actually existed as specifically defined in the Will and on the face of it, failure to identify the specific beneficiary would have led to the legacies being invalid.
The Executor applied to the Court for confirmation as to the construction of the Will. The Court was then able to determine whether the legacies were valid and further determine which charitable organisations were meant to inherit in accordance with the deceased’s Will.
The Court noted that at the time of the deceased’s death there was no charitable institution known as “the Cancer Research Fund”. There were however several sub-charities sharing that name, but none of these were active by the time the testator had died. The Court was unable to confirm whether the deceased had meant for the legacy to be for a specific previous charity and therefore held it must have been a gift for a charitable purpose. The Executor was left to apply such gift to a Cancer Research charity of his choice.
In dealing with “the British Racing Drivers’ Club Benevolent Fund”, the Court again found there was no such charitable institution with that name. The Court did however find that the British Racing Drivers Club was a well-known association which administered a registered charity with a benevolent fund known as the British Racing Drivers’ Club Motor Sport Charity. The Court held the deceased must have intended for the gift to be made to this charity and the legacy was to be made to them.
This case demonstrated two ways in how the Court could construct a Will to confirm whom a charitable gift left in a Will should be payable to.
How Nelsons can help
Stuart Parris is a Trainee Solicitor at Nelsons.
If you are acting as executor of a Will and are unsure whom the deceased intended to leave a legacy to, please contact a member of our Inheritance Disputes team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham who will be able to advise on the options available.
Please call 0800 024 1976 or contact us via our online enquiry form.