In a recent case heard before the High Court of England and Wales, the son (the defendant) of Elfed Williams (the deceased) stood to inherit one sixth of his father’s residuary estate by virtue of his Will.

The only child of the deceased was estranged from his father and so disclaimed his entitlement to the residuary estate. An individual is entitled to refuse a gift in a Will if they wish so long as the disclaimer occurs before the beneficiary accepts any benefit from the gift. However, it raised the question of how should the disclaimed one sixth share be distributed?

 

As is common in Will drafting, the deceased’s Will included a clause that provided for any failed gifts of the residuary estate to accrue to the other shares which at that time had not failed. It is widely accepted that a gift fails if the named beneficiary predeceases the deceased, but this case turned on whether disclaiming a gift also amounted to the failure of that gift. How the one sixth disclaimed gift was to be distributed hinged on whether a disclaimer constituted failure or not. If it did, the substitutionary clause drafted in the Will would take effect and the disclaimed gift would be distributed between the remaining five residuary beneficiaries. Otherwise, if it did not constitute a failure then a partial intestacy was created and as such the disclaimed gift would have to be distributed as per the rules of intestacy amongst legal next of kin.

 

The High Court of England and Wales ruled that “the natural and ordinary meaning of the word ‘fails’ extends to a disclaimer.” Therefore, the court ordered that the defendant’s one sixth disclaimed share was to be divided amongst the remaining five residuary beneficiaries. (White v Williams, 2025 EWHC 115 Ch).

 

This judgment highlights the importance of a carefully drafted Will, ensuring that the testator’s intentions are properly fulfilled and that the estate is distributed according to their wishes.

 

For legal guidance and advice regarding Will’s or estate planning, please contact Fiona Kirkpatrick or Anna Thompson 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.