Beneficiaries often have to wait for many years after a person’s death to inherit under a will – but to what extent do they have a right to be kept informed of what is being done with the relevant funds in the interim? The High Court gave important guidance on that thorny issue in the context of a charitable gift.
By her will, a woman placed her estate, which was then valued at about £145,000, in trust for the benefit of her son and daughter-in-law during their lifetimes. Upon their deaths, the trust fund was to pass to a number of charities. The daughter-in-law remained alive so that the charities had thus far received nothing from the estate.
However, the charities argued that the executors of the will were obliged to account to them in respect of their management of the ...
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