It is perhaps a sign of the times: families are hard-up, and so are charities.  The Court of Appeal has just announced its reasons for upholding a High Court ruling that deprived the RSPCA of a £2 million legacy and instead gave the inheritance to a family member. The Court said that the facts of the case were quite exceptional and should not be seen as a green light to disappointed beneficiaries who are unhappy with the contents of a will.

Christine Gill successfully contested her mother’s will in October this year following a long court battle in which she argued that her mother had been coerced by her now dead father into leaving everything to the charity. The RSPCA appealed the decision.

The Court decided that Miss Gill’s mother suffered from a rare mental condition so she did not know or approve of the will’s contents. But Lord Neuberger did stress that the courts should be “very slow to find that a will does not represent the genuine wishes” of its maker simply because its contents are surprising or unfair.

Mark Watts, Chief Executive of the RSPCA, has voiced concern that this case may damage people’s freedom of choice. His charity has come under fire for incurring vast legal bills in this and the Sharp case, in which the judge roundly – and perhaps unfairly - condemned RSPCA for challenging interpretation of a will.  But the RSPCA argues that in both cases they acted on advice and were simply trying to honour the donor’s intentions.

This costly dispute has worried some charities who might have thought they must fight every case to the bitter end to secure its entitlement.  Not so.  A charity must decide whether its interests are better served by giving in gracefully to avoid costs and adverse publicity.  But it should only do so on specialist advice. 

So long as they leave adequate provision for those close family members who are entitled to rely on their support, people can leave money to whoever they like. Every case turns on its facts, but if there is a lesson here for charities it is to try to ensure that the background is properly understood before embarking on an expensive court case.  And a will should be drafted by specialists who understand charities.

For more information or assistance in dealing with legacies to a charity, please contact our experienced Charities team.

Excerpts of this press release appeared in:

The Express & Echo