, 1877-02-04
LIBERTY OF BEQUEST.


gets his answer from the tue
4a18EH----
LIBERTY OF REQUEST.
An Ens1ishman's Right to Dispose of His
Own Tropcrty-Only Two Restrictions Inn
posed On Him.
London Spectator
It very difficult to make the average En-
cllsnman listen to WORD against the liberty Of
bcouest. lie holds that such word impugns
his right to do what he likes with his own prop
ertv, that It threatens his authority over his
own fami1y,-which Is not maintained here, as 1t
is IN many countries Of the Continent, by posi-
tive law. aud that it is put forward, in some
mysterious way or other, in the interest OF
French democratic opinions. ANY interference,
he thinks, must take the form OF insuriug CON-
pu1sory equal division at death, and to that di-
vision, trough he very often makes 1t. the En-
glishman is in theory stoutly opposed. He has,
therefore, partly through legislation, partly
through continuous vcrdicts, and partly through
a steady pressure Of opinion, secured himself
COMPLETE liberty Of bcquest, with two or three
legal restrictions and one very odd practical
li.pitation. 4 man cannot make bequest for
an immoral or Anti-socfal purpose, he cannot
lock up money to accumulate for any long period
oil time. anu uG Cs11HOG Al1hc EVHA4tI1A5 "LtNik
the Judges will declare Is contrary to public
policy to observe. 4 legacy, for example, con-
tineent on the 1egatee acquiring Peerage, has
been declared, after great struggle, to be vold.
With these exceptions, his right OF bequest, IT
only be is in possession OF the properly,
NAL aud informal, as to his method Of
signifying his autocratic. decree. Nothing
either ID law or executive opinion binds
him to select any heir or heirs other than such
persons as may to him seem good. be may
leave his wts paapfs; u n a
other relatives, whatever their claims or their
necessities, absolutely unnoticed, and ND law
yer, however speculative, will seriously attack
the will. There have been cases 10 which tes-
tator, after enjoying great rank for years, pas
left next to nothing to support his title, be-
oucsting lis property to comparative strangers; !;
or has lefta wife. apparently dearly beloved,
In absolute poverty; or has distinctly cheated
adopted children by fu1sehoods, steadily main
taiued up to the very last moment Of bis life.
In one case, which became Important from
decision under the mottmain law, a wealthy law
yer adopted nephew, bred him up deliberately
without profession, because he would not need
one, remained toward him in the relation OF an
afTectiopate father to q dutiful son up 10 the
moment of his deceasc, and nevertheless be-
queathed every shilling he possessed to gtor1iy
lis own name as the donor Of small annuitles to
aged townsfolk. The nephew got nothing "hat-
ever, No power SO mp1ctc exists In any other
country Of the world except the United states,
and in the United States, though seldom limit
cd by aw,-thcre is, # nc recoilect Alright, law
projecting widows in onc or two Of the States,
lit Is materially affected in practice by the
readiness OF }uries to declare that the Injustice,
or oddity. or vindictivcncss visible in WILL Is
proof positive By itself OF the testators inca
is OF no use attacking such a will On the merits.
The Judges will always rule the jurJmen hare
nothing to do with the injustice Of any disposal
of property, but only to decide what that dis
posal was. and jurymen who hold . bequest and
gift to be identical think that dietum perfectly
right and proper. 4 man has i right to spend
his own money as he likes, and bequest is
only to the average English mind, which is not
open to theories about implied contracts, q
method of expenditure.
This liberty, however, absolute as it seems, Is
limited by. two restrictions on the method Of
mixing wills Of q very operative kind. though
one Of them is not recognized by any statute.
4 man must by law continue to live for six
months after be has made i bequcst to q zel{1i-
GUS or charitable object, or his bequest Is void.
He is not prevented, as great many people
to this day imagine, from making the bcquest.
On that point his right is as absolute as Il the
charity to be benefited were his child, but he
must live on for six months after signing his
will or his intention falls At once to the ground.
And man E1usb SO manage that the person who
drafts his Will shall not be the chief nora iort1o1l
the only beneficiary under his will, for il he is
the chances are that the will will never be car
ricd out There Is no law. whatercr against
such an occurrence. No man is prohibited from
drafting will in his own favor. No Judge
would lay it down as rule that such will was
invalid, but the prejudIces Of the common sense
of mankind triumph in this one case over En-
glish liberty Of bequcst, aud will SO made runs
a very great chance, II the property is large of
being at last upset. Jurymcn will not bear that
men like themselves should be SO tempted.
Solicitors known this SO well that they make
an etiquette of the profession that will be-
queath}ng legacy to q solicitor should not be
drawn BY him.