Tait’s Trs v Lees, (1886) 13 R 1104
Citation: Tait’s Trs v Lees, (1886) 13 R 1104
Rule of thumb: If a young woman marries a rich old man, does she inherit all of his wealth on his death? Yes, she gets all the wealth & his family get nothing.
Judgment:
This case affirmed the principle of ius relictae inclusive – this means that where one spouse dies the other spouse inherits all of their movable property as well, not just the right to live in the family home. This effectively means that if a young lady marries a rich old man, and then the old man dies the next day, the young lady inherits all of the estate of the deceased ‘spouse’. If the rich old man wrote wills to make all of his kids and grandchildren wealthy, and had promised to do this for years, none of this matters due to the principle of ius relictae which trumps all of them, ‘Whatever may be the nature of ius relictae, whether a claim for division or a claim for debt, this at all event is certain, that the testator has no power to test upon it... So far as the nature of the right is concerned I think the distribution must proceed as if the testator had dealt in his settlement with nothing but what he was entitled to test upon, and as if he had not tested or endeavoured to test on that portion of the moveable succession which fell under the ius relictae’, Lord Justice-Clerk Moncrieff
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.