It can be sufficient for a gift to be adeemed as a portion where the donor is a parent: ‘in the case of a parent, a legacy to a child is presumed to be intended to be a portion . .’ The court queried the likelihood of an intention in a grandfather who was in loco parentis disturbing the whole scheme of distribution he had set up in his will to have given an inter vivos gift without its adeeming the gift by will – ‘to the necessary prejudice of all the other children’. The rule against double portions is ‘founded on good sense and adapted to the ordinary transactions of mankind’.
References: (1840) 5 My and Cr 29, [1841] EngR 340, (1840-1841) 5 My and Cr 29, (1841) 41 ER 283, [1841] EngR 1054, (1841) 12 Sim 394, (1841) 59 ER 1183
Links: Commonlii, Commonlii
Judges: Lord Cottenham LC
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case cites:
- Cited – Hoskins v Hoskins 1706
The rule against double portions applied so that a larger gift by will would be totally adeemed by a later and smaller inter vivos gift. . .
((1706) Pr Ch 263)
This case is cited by:
- Cited – In re Lacon 1891
The doctrine of ademption serves to preserve equality between children. Bowen LJ said: ‘ . . it being the view of the law that equality is what the father, in dealing with his children, would in most cases presumably intend.’ and there may even be a . .
((1891) 2 Ch 48) - Cited – In Re the Estate of Marjorie Langdon Cameron (Deceased); Peter David Phillips v Donald Cameron and Others ChD 24-Mar-1999
One of the testatrix’s children was thought to be profligate, and had failed to maintain his own son. Acting under an enduring power of attorney, the testatrix’s attorneys made a substantial gift in establishing an educational trust for that son’s . .
(Gazette 21-Apr-99, Times 02-Apr-99, Gazette 28-Apr-99)
These lists may be incomplete.
Last Update: 27 November 2020; Ref: scu.194481