New Court decision on legacies and mental illness

Howard Lake | 24 March 2004 | News

A recent court case in which the validity of a Will made by an elderly testatrix was considered could affect charitable legacies.

Sinclair Taylor & Martin, the Charity Team

at Solicitors Russell-Cooke have reported on

the recent case of Hoff v Atherton (2004) in which the Court had to consider the validity of a Will made by an elderly testatrix who was suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer-type dementia when she made the Will.

The Court decided that the Will was valid in that, on the balance of probabilities, she was capable of understanding the nature of a Will and was giving the residue to the Defendant.

Sinclair Taylor & Martin commented in their latest newsletter that, as a result of this decision, “charity staff dealing with legacies should be aware that where there is a history of mental illness, there is no presumption of competence and it will be for those persons seeking to rely on the Will to prove the testator’s capacity.”

• CMS Committee calls for end to 12% duty on lottery tickets (25 March 2004)
  
• HBOS Foundation chooses Help the Hospices as charity of the year (26 March 2004)
  
• Aid agencies campaign for increase in overseas aid (29 March 2004)
  

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.