The recent case of Wales-v-Dixon & Others has raised the
interesting question of what exactly is meant by a person who
leaves their estate to their ‘nieces and
nephews'.
The clause of this Will in this particular case left the residuary
estate of the deceased to ‘such all of my nephew's and
niece's children'.
The deceased was widowed with no children. He had two blood
nephews and two blood nieces. He also had three nephews by
marriage and one niece by marriage. A further nephew by
marriage had died in 1992 leaving a son.
The deceased and his late wife had made mirror Wills on at least
three previous occasions. Those Wills followed a pattern of
leaving everything to each other and then initially to charities
and later to a named selection of nieces and nephews of them
both.
The question that arose was whether or not the deceased meant to
leave his residuary estate to the children of his blood nieces and
nephews or whether the children of his late wife's nieces and
nephews should also be included.
This question has been raised in the Courts before in Re Daoust
(1944) where it was stated that the strict and proper meaning of
nephew or niece is the son or daughter of a brother or sister but
it was acknowledged that the strict meaning is susceptible to
extension. It is generally accepted that niece or nephew may
describe the child of a brother in law or sister in law.
Furthermore, nephew can be used to indicate a niece's husband
and niece to describe the wife of a nephew.
The starting position is that, unless compelled by context or
circumstances, the Court will always construe a class gift to
nephews and nieces as a gift confined to the children of a brother
or sister.
In Wales-v-Dixon & Others it was confirmed that the background
of a matter is not limited to the remaining provisions in the Will
but also in the history of previous Wills, the previous Wills of a
spouse and what happened to a spouse's estate.
On this basis, it was decided that the deceased had intended to
benefit not just his own blood relatives but the relatives of his
late wife and the estate was administered accordingly.
Any solicitor preparing your Will should always ask you plenty of
questions about your family and your assets. At DMH Stallard
we have a thorough process designed to ensure that your Will and
your wishes are clear so that your executors can administer your
estate quickly and efficiently.
If you are thinking about putting in place your Will or have any
concerns as to the clarity of your current Will please get in touch
with Jennifer Charlton who would be happy to assist.
Originally Published by DMH Stallard, November 2020
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.