- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 23/Jun 19:11

Privy Council upholds will leaving entire estate to church

THE Privy Council has dismissed an appeal by the daughter of a man over the validity of his will that left his entire estate to a Roman Catholic charity. In a ruling on June 19, Lords Briggs, Leggatt and Richards held that Carl Cox’s will was properly executed and reflected the wishes of the testator – the person who made a will. Cox, who died on December 23, 2012, at his home on Madeira Street, Trinidad, left his entire estate to the Eternal Light Community of Tunapuna, a religious charity under the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, by a will dated January 6, 2009. The will named his friend and neighbour Gregory Pascall as executor and made no provision for any of his three children, including his daughter Aneisa Graham, who took the appeal to the Privy Council. Graham challenged the will in the High Court on three grounds, that it was not properly executed, that her father lacked knowledge and approval of its contents, and that undue influence was involved. At trial in 2017, Justice Nadia Kangaloo accepted the first two grounds and denied probate. The third ground was withdrawn during submissions. In 2023, the Court of Appeal overturned Kangaloo’s ruling, stating that the judge made several factual errors, including the assumption that persons present during the will’s execution were affiliated with the beneficiary and placing undue weight on outdated documents to suggest a close relationship between Cox and his daughter. In its ruling, the Court of Appeal held that Cox had testamentary capacity, the will had been read aloud to him shortly before signing, and he later gave it to Pascall for safekeeping, all pointing to his full understanding and approval of the will’s contents. Graham appealed to the Privy Council, relying solely on the claim that Cox did not know or approve of the will. In its ruling, the Privy Council agreed with the Appeal Court’s reason for making a fresh determination on the case on the available evidence, although differing slightly from the local appellate court’s reasoning. In its ruling, the Privy Council affirmed that Cox had full mental capacity and the will was a simple, clearly written one-page document. “The most perfunctory reading of it would demonstrate that he was disposing of all his property to the named charity, and that none of it was going to Mrs Graham. It was read over to him shortly before he executed it, and he could not have been unaware (if in sound mind) that this is what he was doing by executing the will.” “Finally Mr Cox acknowledged the will as his will when he gave it to Mr Pascall as his intended executor for safekeeping. This is not one of those cases where a testator executes a will which is then held by lawyers or other family members, without him ever seeing it again. “In this case Mr Cox must have taken it home as his will, and maintained a settled intention as to its contents until he handed it over shortly before his death,” the Privy Council ruled. The appeal was dismissed, and the will stands. Attorneys Keston McQuilkin and Wayne Smart represented Graham while Margaret Rose, and Dana-Marie Smith represented Pascall. The post Privy Council upholds will leaving entire estate to church appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.