Re: Druce’s Settlement

This article considers the recent case of J C Druce’s Settlement 1959 [2019] EWHC 3701 (Ch). It is the first English case to address the position of illegitimate children under the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). This article sets out the claims made by the trustees, the background to the matter, the position under English law absent the HRA, and the four-stage reasoning which led to the conclusion that under the HRA, illegitimate (as well as adopted) descendants were within the class of the beneficiaries of the Settlement.