Contents:
Donees
Details
Compiled by Eric B. Appleby:
Generally
A donee is the person to whom a gift or bequest is made. The person who gives the property is called the donor.
Capacity to benefit
Public policy may operate to render invalid a bequest under a will. See Benson Estate, Re (1998), 231 A.R. 76 (Surr. Ct.) at para. 14: “The forfeiture rule. A sane person who commits murder is debarred by public policy from taking any benefit under the will or intestacy of his victim. … The forfeiture rule has sometimes been applied where the killer is convicted of manslaughter by reasons of diminished responsibility, but it does not apply if the killer was insane – an insane killer may take a benefit under the will or intestacy of his victim.” Clark and Ross Martyn, Theobald on Wills, 15th Ed., 1993, Sweet and Maxwell, p. 146.
Disqualification of donees
A beneficiary under a will may be disqualified if the beneficiary is a witness to the signing of the will. See Campbell Estate, Re (1990), 90 Sask.R. 3 (Sur. Ct.), where the Saskatchewan Surrogate Court declared invalid bequests to beneficiaries who witnessed the will. See also Pauliuk v. Pauliuk Estate (1986), 73 A.R. 314 (Q.B.) where the court declared invalid a bequest to the son of the testator where the son was a witness to the execution of the will.
Identification of donees
Careful drafting is required to identify donees so as to avoid the costs of litigation. See Zive Estate, Re (1976), 23 N.S.R.(2d) 477; 32 A.P.R. 477 (T.D.) where the court was asked to determine who was included in the phrase “members of my family”. The court held that the testator intended to include nephews and nieces in the phrase “members of my family”. Where the description of the donee is vague the gift may be void for uncertainty and the gift would devolve as on an intestacy. See Olson Estate, Re (1988), 70 Sask.R. 240 (C.A.).