Trustees Executors and Agency Company Limited v Ramsay [1920] HCA 2

Trustees Executors and Agency Company Limited v Ramsay [1920] HCA 2

The codicil placed all nephews and nieces, including those of Hugh and Farquhar Urquhart, on the same footing as those referred to in the will, conferring on them the same interests in income and corpus. Thus, any nephew or niece of the testator referred to in the codicil who died during the testator's widow's lifetime took no interest in the corpus. The qualifying date for entitlement to corpus is the date of the widow’s death, not the testator’s death.

Parties
Appellant: Trustees, Executors and Agency Co. Ltd.; Respondents: Ramsay and others
Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
18 February 1920
Procedural Posture
Appeal / Decision on Appeal
Outcome
appeal dismissed
Legal Topics
Will Construction, Codicil Interpretation, Vested Vs Contingent Interest, Costs on Appeal
Wills and Estates Will Construction Codicil Interpretation Vested Vs Contingent Interest Costs on Appeal

Case Brief

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Parties

Trustees, Executors and Agency Co. Ltd.

Appellant

Ramsay and others

Respondents

Procedural Posture

Appeal / Decision on Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether beneficiaries under the codicil to a will took vested or contingent interests in the corpus of a testator's estate
  2. 2 Whether the date for ascertaining entitlement under the codicil is the testator's death or the widow's death

Ratio Decidendi

The codicil placed all nephews and nieces, including those of Hugh and Farquhar Urquhart, on the same footing as those referred to in the will, conferring on them the same interests in income and corpus. Thus, any nephew or niece of the testator referred to in the codicil who died during the testator's widow's lifetime took no interest in the corpus. The qualifying date for entitlement to corpus is the date of the widow’s death, not the testator’s death.

Court Disposition

appeal dismissed

Orders

  • Appellant to pay costs of the respondent trustee’s appeal and one set of costs for the opposing respondents as between party and party
  • The respondent trustee to recoup from the estate any difference between party and party and solicitor and client costs and any deficiency not recovered from the appellant