Balfour’s Trs v Johnston, 1936 SC 137

Citation: Balfour’s Trs v Johnston, 1936 SC 137

Rule of thumb: Can a life-rent given to a person to be able to stay in the family home provide conditions? Yes, it is perfectly valid for a life-rent in a will to contain conditions that the person must meet in order to be allowed to continue staying there.

Judgment:

– This case related to the principle of the ‘burden of proof in enforceable conditions’ – it was affirmed that if someone is seeking to argue that a condition attached to a legacy is unenforceable then a reason must be provided for why it is unreasonable, otherwise the Court will not able to remove it and the person will have to follow it. The facts were that the testator’s daughter was entitled to stay in a certain property as long as certain basic housekeeping rules were followed. This was deemed in the circumstances to be an acceptable condition attached to this legacy which was perceived to uphold the integrity of the property, and this was deemed to an enforceable property condition which had to be followed by the daughter in order to obtain the legacy, ‘(no legal authority has been provided) ... which would justify us in extending the principles applicable to the relationship between parent and child to an association between parties who no tie of blood exists, and it is obvious that different considerations apply to the 2 cases’, Lord President Normand at 47

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.