An unusual decision in the High Court in England has deemed that a text message was sufficient in evidencing a deceased’s intentions for their Will. In the recent case of Rahman v Hassan, 2024 EWHC 1290 (Ch), the claimant argued that the deceased had expressed his wish for him to receive all of his UK assets and had made this known in the period prior to his death.
The deceased died in October 2020, leaving a 2015 will which left all of his assets to relatives of his late wife (who had died previously, in the same month as the deceased). However, the claimant stated that he was extremely close to and cared for the deceased and his wife in the final period of their lives. He argued that prior to his death, the deceased made numerous gifts in contemplation of his death (a legal principle known as ‘donatio mortis causa’) which resulted in all of the deceased’s UK assets passing to the claimant.
Shortly before his death, the deceased had provided instructions to a will drafter to prepare a new Will, benefitting the claimant, but due to various COVID restrictions at the time, the deceased was unable to have his new Will properly executed. However, one of the main pieces of evidence relied upon by the claimant was a text message sent by the deceased to the will writer hours before his death, in which he had instructed the will writer that he revoked his previous Will and instead wished for all of his UK assets to be left to the claimant. He had sent a similar message to a friend on the same day. The deceased died shortly afterwards, before he had an opportunity to execute the new Will. The claimant argued that these messages amounted to valid ‘donationes mortis causa’ and were therefore outside the scope of the deceased’s estate on his death.
Taking this into consideration, the judge focused his deliberations on whether the deceased had made these wishes of his own free will and if so, had he been successful in making these gifts in contemplation of his own death? The court found that the deceased had substantiated his intention to gift his assets to the claimant by:
(1) Giving the claimant various deeds, certificates and keys in relation to his properties and;
(2) informing the claimant of the login details and passwords and providing security devices for the online bank and other accounts.
The judge noted, “The whole point about the doctrine of donationes mortis causa is to provide a legal solution to a human need, when other legal institutions do not.”
Whilst this may be seen as an interesting example of the Court finding a legal solution for a human need, it must be noted that the principle of donationes mortis causa is difficult to rely upon and relatively rarely argued. There can be no substitute for a carefully drafted Will with the assistance of an experienced practitioner.
For legal guidance and advice regarding Will’s or estate planning, please contact Fiona Kirkpatrick in our Private Client team for more information.
While great care has been taken in the preparation of the content of this article, it does not purport to be a comprehensive statement of the relevant law and full professional advice should be taken before any action is taken in reliance on any item covered.
