Man's will written on back of food boxes is valid, High Court rules
Emily Dunham - 25 November 2024
If you're trying to imagine what a will looks like, or any legal document for that matter, you’d surely picture a formal record that’s kept safely tucked away in a secure location, right?Well, Malcolm Chenery, who died in 2021, recorded his last wishes in a slightly less traditional way. He detailed that his estate should be left to Diabetes UK but did so across two food packaging boxes – one that had contained Young’s frozen fish, and another which once contained Mr. Kipling mince pies.
The charity’s claim for the money was challenged not simply because of the unorthodox material it was written on, but because it was split across two separate pieces of packaging. The fish box specified that Chenery’s house and its contents should go to Diabetes UK, but this could not automatically be read as being from the same document as the information on the box of mince pies. According to the 1837 Wills Act, a valid will must be created with the intention of being a legal document and must be signed and witnessed. The separation of the two pieces of packaging created an issue here, as Chenery’s neighbours had witnessed the signing of the second page, but not the first.
The barrister representing Diabetes UK pointed out that the two pieces of the will had been written with the same pen and that their contents regarded the same subject matter, so the court ruled that the two parts should be read as two halves of one document. The charity also had the support of Chenery’s family members, as diabetes ran within the family, so it came as no surprise that Chenery wished to send his money to the charity upon his death.
Had Diabetes UK not succeeded in the claim, Chenery would have died intestate (i.e., without a will), and there is a longstanding principle within English and Welsh law that courts should lean against intestacy where possible. It seemed clear here what Chenery’s wishes were, and so the high court ruled in favour of Diabetes UK, who can now take ownership of his estate. This means that the charity now legally owns Chenery’s house, money and all of his possessions.