Angus v Angus - [1917] HCA 62

ANGUS AND OTHERS

APPELLANTS; DEFENDANTS,

ANGUS AND ANOTHER

RESPONDENTS.

DEFENDANT AND PLAINTIFF, Will-Construction-Gift of corpus subject to defeasance-Right to income undisposed

of-Period of distribution fixed-Accumulation.

A testator by his will gave all his property real and personal to his trustees upon trust to sell and convert and out of the proceeds to pay certain legacies, and out of the net annual income to pay certain annuities including annuities to one of his two sons and his daughter until their deaths or until the time for distribution of his trust estate should arrive, whichever event should first happen and upon further trust as to one-half of the residue of the net annual income remaining after the payment of the annuities to divide the same equally between his widow and his three children until his youngest grandchild attained the age of twenty-one years or until the end of a period of twenty years after his death, whichever should first happen, which event he described as being the time for distribution of his trust estate. Subject to these provisions, the (capital and income) for his three children in equal shares, with gifts over in the event of their dying before the time for distribution of his trust estate.

Held, on the terms of the whole of the will, that, as to the balance of the net income after payment of one-half of it to his widow and his three children, it

Decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Harrey J.) affirmed.

24 CLR 10

APPEAL from the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

James Angus, who died on 12th April 1916, left him surviving his widow, Charlotte Angus, and three children, James Angus, Rebecca Fleming and John Henry Smith Angus. By his will he gave his property real and personal to his trustees upon trust to sell and convert and to invest the proceeds and upon trust as to the trust moneys and investments thereof upon trust to pay certain legacies and upon trust out of the net annual income of his trust estate to pay certain annuities including an annuity to his wife for life. The will then continued And also the following annuities: To my son James Angus the sum of five hundred pounds a year during his life or until the time for distribution of my trust estate shall arrive And in the event of his decease prior to the time for dis- tribution of my trust estate the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds a year to his wife (should she survive him) until her death or remarriage or until the time for distribution of my trust estate shall arrive whichever event shall first happen And in the event of his leaving a child or children him surviving then until the time for distribution of my estate shall arrive a sum of two hundred and fifty pounds per annum during the life or widowhood of his widow and thereafter a sum of five…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [1917] HCA 62
Decision Date: 29 November 1917

CaseChat Overview and Summary

This case concerned an appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute arose from the interpretation of the will of James Angus, who died in 1916. The testator's will established a trust for his real and personal property, directing its sale and conversion, with proceeds to be used for legacies and annuities. A significant portion of the will dealt with the distribution of the net annual income of the trust estate.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the balance of the net annual income, after certain annuities and one-half of the residue of that income were distributed, should be paid to the testator's three children or accumulated until the time fixed for the distribution of the trust estate. The testator's children argued they were entitled to this intermediate income, as it was not expressly disposed of and passed with the corpus of the residuary estate.

The High Court, in dismissing the appeal, affirmed the decision of the Supreme Court. The Court's reasoning was based on a holistic interpretation of the entire will. It held that the provisions regarding the distribution of income, when read in conjunction with the overall scheme of the will, indicated an intention for this balance of income to be accumulated. The Court applied the fundamental principle that the meaning of a contested portion of a will is to be determined by reading the whole document.

Consequently, the High Court ordered that the appeal be dismissed with costs, upholding the Supreme Court's declaration that the balance of the net income was to be accumulated by the trustees until the time designated for the distribution of the trust estate.

Orders