Pecuniary Legacies

I am helping oversee a paralegal with her CILEX course and she has shown me this:-

"With regard to beneficiaries, the will is to be read as referring to the people who fit the relevant descriptions as at the date of the will, not the date of death (unless there is anything in the will itself to suggest that this should not be the case). It is worth noting that, in practical terms, the rule regarding beneficiaries is most likely to be relevant with reference to children of the testator (or testatrix) – if the will says “I leave each of my children £10,000”, and a later son is born after the will is made, he would not benefit under this gift. (If, as is usual, the will said “I leave each of my children living at the date of my death the sum of £10,000” then, of course, the later child would be included.) “

I always thought that if you leave a pecuniary legacy (or indeed a percentage of residue) to my grandchildren, it would included any further grandchildren born after the date of the Will and the class would close on the death of the testator.

Am I still right?

I don’t think you are.

A will is construed at the date it is made when seeking to construe the identification of the object of a gift [see WA 1847 s24 re “property”].

Thus, in the above, leaving a pecuniary legacy “to mu grandchildren” refers to grandchildren at the date of the will.

(subject to contrary indication in the will).

Malcolm Finney