The charitable legacy—how far should a charity go to protect it, asks Alison Regan
- Wills drafted by a solicitor are less likely to be challenged.
- Charity trustees are obliged to act in the best interests of the charity.
The press has recently reported on the sad case of Tracy Leaning, an animal lover who, in 2007, drafted a will benefitting the Dog’s Trust, World Animal Protection, Friends of the Animals and Heart Research UK. Legacy income provides crucial support for these charitable objectives—objectives that Tracy clearly wanted to advance. However life changes.
According to reports, after 2007 Tracy met a partner and then became ill. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2014 Tracy seemingly changed her will to benefit her partner (provided he looked after her dogs) cutting out the charities.
The Dog’s Trust has unusually (and some might say controversially) taken the step of questioning the validity of the 2014 will. Few details are available but this is likely to be on the basis that the second will was handwritten and that the page bearing the signatures was not attached
