Paul Hewitt, Paola Fudakowska & Adam Cloherty on the intricacies of will interpretation
It is somehow comforting that, even in this day and age, five law lords can be exercised about the meaning to be attributed to a semi-colon. In Sammut v Manzi [2008] UKPC 58 T died leaving a will in which, by cl 6(ii), 25% of his estate was left “to (a) my cousins…[A], [P], [W] and [J]; and (b) my ex-spouse [R]… in equal shares as to the realty in fee simple and as to the personalty absolutely”. The clause went on to record that if any of A, P, W, J and/or R should predecease T without leaving heirs, “the share of that deceased individual shall be paid… to the surviving beneficiaries…in equal shares and, if…more than one…among all such surviving beneficiaries in equal shares per stirpes.”
Do A, P, W, J and R each take 5% each? Or do the four cousins share 12.5% while R takes the remaining 12.5% herself? The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, overturning the courts below,
