A testator bequeathed interests in the residue of his estate ‘to the heir for the time being entitled to succeed under the said deed of entail’ on his attaining the age of twenty-four. He had in a preceding portion of his testament directed an entail of a certain estate upon a series of heirs, and it appeared from the whole provisions of the deed that he contemplated the founding of a family of that estate. The institute in the proposed entail obtained a conveyance in fee simple of the estate, under section 27 of the Entail Act 1848, and died before attaining twenty-four years of age.
Held that the words ‘the heir for the time being entitled to succeed under the said deed of entail’ were merely a description of the person favoured and did not import a condition that he should in fact be heir under an executed deed of entail. Per Lord Robertson-‘The substance of a bequest of residue is the choice of persons.’
Judges:
Lord Chancellor (Loreburn), Lord Macnaghten, Lord Robertson, and Lord Atkinson
Citations:
[1907] UKHL 985, 44 SLR 985
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Wills and Probate
Updated: 27 April 2022; Ref: scu.622309