A widow having children by her first marriage entered into a second, in contemplation of which she, by antenuptial contract with the second husband, conveyed to trustees her property, heritable and moveable, for behoof of herself in liferent only, excluding the jus mariti, and for behoof of the children ‘procreated or to be procreated’ of her body in fee, in such proportions as she might appoint, or failing such appointment equally. The trustees were infeft in the heritable property thus conveyed, and they entered into management of the estate. There were no children of the second marriage, and the wife died leaving a settlement by which she affected to exercise the power of appointment and deal with her whole property. By this settlement she left only a small legacy, payable, in the discretion of her trustees, to one of the children of the first marriage. Held ( rev. judgment of Second Division) that the marriage-contract conferred upon the children of the first marriage a jus crediti, and was not quoad them a merely testamentary provision, and therefore that their mother could not by her settlement defeat this child’s claims under it.
Judges:
Lord Chancellor, Lord Watson, and Lord Fitzgerald
Citations:
[1884] UKHL 465, 21 SLR 465
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Family, Trusts, Wills and Probate
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.636744