Construction

Harrison and another v Gibson and others ChD TLR 25 January

Section 22 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 provides: ‘Except where a contrary intention is shown it shall be presumed that if a testator devises or bequeaths property to his spouse in terms which in themselves have given an absolute interest to the spouse, but by the same instrument purports to give his issue an interest in the same property, the gift to the spouse is absolute notwithstanding the purported gift to the issue.’ This provision entities the court to look beyond the wording of a will to its context as a whole to ascertain the testator’s intention. It was clear that the testator intended his widow to receive only a life interest in the matrimonial home, as a result on her death their children inherited equally under their father’s will.