Hanchett-Stamford v HM Attorney General and another [2008] EWHC 330 (Ch)
Chancery Division
Lewison J
27 February 2008
The sole surviving member of an unincorporated association is able to claim the assets of the association; they do not vest in the Crown as bona vacantia.
Alison MacLennan (instructed by Shirley May Yard) for the claimant.
Hugh Sims (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the first defendant. The second defendant did not appear and was not represented
Gwilym Harbottle (instructed by Dickinson Dees LLP) for Barclarys Bank, as intervener.
The Performing and Captive Animals Defence League (the league) was founded in 1914. Its aims included the introduction of legislation outlawing circus tricks and animal films depicting cruelty. It was never a registered charity. The claimant and her husband joined the league in the mid-1960s as life members. Her husband exercised effective control of the assets.
In the early 1990s, a property was purchased. The title was registered in the name of the husband and another member as trustees for the league. The league also had a portfolio of stocks
