Re Lester; McCracken v Law
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1940 |
| Date | 01 January 1940 |
| Court | Chancery Division (Northern Ireland) |
-Charitable trust -Bequest of income of trust fund after death of testator's wife - To be applied to enable sons and daughters and male descendants of testator's brothers to obtain professions - Validity of gift -Whether charitable - 43 Eliz., c. 4 - 10 Chas. 1, Sess. 3, c. 1.
-Charity - Gift to "the Theosophical Society of Belfast" - No such Society - Objects of Theosophical Society -Whether gift for public benefit - Question for Court - Validity - Gift to the several members of Belfast Lodges of Theosophical Society in Ireland.
A testator by his will gave the following bequest: "After the death of my said wife I direct that the moneys then invested, stocks, and so forth, shall be regarded as a trust fund for enabling the sons and daughters and male descendants of my brothers to obtain professions, each suitable student to receive one hundred pounds yearly, for a reasonable time, from the dividends arising from said trust fund; and if a sufficient number of students shall not be forthcoming in any one year to exhaust the dividends the unexpended balance shall be invested and added to the trust fund . . . the trustees are to decide who are to be the beneficiaries when more suitable students offer than the dividends can meet." Held that the trust was not charitable, and its validity could not be upheld even to a limited extent.
By her will a testatrix directed her estate, which consisted of realty and personalty, to be realised and converted into money and out of the proceeds she bequeathed, among other legacies, to "the Theosophical Society of Belfast five hundred pounds." The residue was bequeathed to certain of the pecuniary legatees, including "the Theosophical Society of Belfast," in proportion to the amounts of their pecuniary legacies. There existed in Belfast three Lodges of the Theosophical Society in Ireland, which is constituted under the Rules of the Theosophical Society, a worldwide organisation, incorporated and having its headquarters in Madras. The objects of the Society as set out in the Memorandum of...
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