Re Wilford's Estate. Taylor v Taylor
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Date | 1878 |
| Court | Chancery Division |
Gift to Sisters as Joint Tenants - Agreement to dispose of Property by Wills - Severance of Joint Tenancy.
Leasehold property was given by will to two sisters as joint tenants, and they mutually agreed to bequeath it in trust for each other for life, and for their nieces after the death of the survivor. One sister having died, the survivor made a will giving the property in a different manner: —
Held, that the agreement between the sisters, carried out by the making of the wills, severed the joint tenancy, and that the property must be administered on the footing of a tenancy in common.
TWO sisters, C. E. Wilford and H. J. Wilford, resided together, and they were, with other property, entitled, as joint tenants under the will of Mrs. Clarke, to certain leasehold houses. The solicitors, who acted for the sisters in matters of business, did not keep separate accounts of the moneys which belonged to each, as they had a joint purse. In 1866 some of the leasehold houses were sold, and the moneys received were, with other moneys contributed by the sisters, lent upon mortgage on their joint account. The loan was paid off in January, 1877, to H. J. Wilford.
On the 5th of June, 1861, the sisters made their wills, and thereby each gave her property to the other absolutely, and appointed her sole executrix.
On the 10th of September, 1872, each sister Lade a will giving her real and personal estate to the other for life, and after her death subject to certain legacies to certain nieces in equal shares, the terms of the will being indentical except in the interchange of the donees for life.
Mr. Taylor, a nephew, and one of the trustees named in both wills, deposed that he, on the 22nd of August, was present with his aunts by appointment, and that they stated that it was the intention of each of them to make a will in favour of the other, so that the survivor should have the whole of the property which had been bequeathed to them by Mrs. Clarke, i.e., they agreed to divide it equally between them in this way: that the survivor should have the income for life, and that after her decease the property should go to certain persons to whom they had agreed it should be bequeathed; that that understanding was definitely arranged by them in his presence, and that at another interview on the 11th of September, 1872, they told him that each had made a will to carry out...
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Re Dale, decd
... ... his will - Surviving wife making new will giving son majority of estate - Whether doctrine of mutual wills applicable - Whether necessary for ... 402 ... Wilford's Estate, In re; Taylor v. Taylor ( 1879 ) 11 Ch.D. 267 ... The following additional ... ...
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(1) Rosemary Lee v (1) Benjamin William Gorwyn Lee
...of the testator and the first claimant were made pursuant to an agreement for mutual wills, which might have operated as a severance: Re Wilford's Estate (1879) 11 Ch D 267. 8 Accordingly, titles CL 193208 (including the farm bungalow and two of the three named fields) and CL 245397 (the la......
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Franziska Nicholson v Anna Magdalena Ahrer Nicholson
...their respective wills, followed by the making of wills accordingly, operates as a severance: Re The Wilford's estate, Taylor v Taylor (1879), 11 ChD 267; Re Heys, Walker v Gaskill [1914] Pn192. The agreement need not be specifically enforceable: Burgess v Rawsley [1975] Ch 429, [1975] 3 ......
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Timothy David Dunbabin v Simon Charles Dunbabin
...Firstly there is the use of “mirror” wills. The claimant cited to me a number of cases on this point. The first was Re Wilford's Estate (1879) 11 Ch D 267. Here two sisters were joint tenants of certain leasehold land. They agreed to make wills which left a life interest to the survivor of ......