A father by his will bequeathed andpound;700 to his then unmarried daughter. Later two inter vivos gifts were made; one, of andpound; 100, was plainly not a portion. The other, of andpound;400, was not given to the daughter but to her husband. The testator said to the husband that he hoped the gift would do him good.
Held: A small gift is not to be taken as a ‘portion’ of the gift intended to be made under a will. ‘With respect to the . . . andpound;400, I prefer to express no opinion as to the ground upon which, to a great extent at least, the Master of the Rolls appears to have proceeded; namely that the daughter herself was the legatee, while the payment was made to the husband of the daughter. I do not rely upon that ground nor on the other hand do I express any dissent from It.’ On the evidence the andpound;400 was intended as ‘a simple gift’ meaning, I apprehend, that it was not a portion at all but pure bounty.
Judges:
Knight Bruce LJ, Turner LJ
Citations:
(1863) 32 Beav 669
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Wills and Probate
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.194472