King v Philcox

The High Court of Australia considered the dispute between King and Philcox concerning the interpretation of a will. The primary issue revolved around whether a specific bequest of shares in a company, which had undergone a significant corporate restructure prior to the testator's death, should be satisfied by the shares held in the restructured entity or by the original shares.

The Court was required to determine the proper construction of the will, specifically the intention of the testator regarding the bequest of shares in a company that no longer existed in its original form at the time of their death. This involved considering principles of testamentary intention and the application of rules of construction to identify the subject matter of the gift in light of subsequent events.

The High Court held that the testator's intention was to bequeath the shares in the company as it existed at the time of the will's execution. However, due to the subsequent corporate restructure, the original shares had been replaced by shares in the new entity. Applying the principle that a gift of shares in a particular company refers to the shares in that company as it exists at the time of the testator's death, the Court found that the bequest should be satisfied by the shares held in the restructured company. The Court reasoned that the testator's intention was to benefit from the investment in that particular enterprise, and the restructure did not fundamentally alter the nature of that investment.