Savage v Savage

The matter of Savage v Savage involved a dispute over the distribution of an estate following the murder of the testator by the beneficiary. The deceased left a will which included a gift over of the beneficiary's share if they predeceased the testator. The central legal issue was the effect of the forfeiture rule on the gift over, considering the beneficiary's criminal act. Additionally, the court had to determine if the rule in Jones v Westcomb could be applied to the gift over and if there was sufficient evidence of the testator's intention for the gift to pass to the contingent beneficiaries.

The court examined the applicability of the forfeiture rule in the context of the beneficiary's criminal act. It assessed whether the rule in Jones v Westcomb, which traditionally prevents a beneficiary from profiting from their own wrongdoing, could extend to the gift over. The court also considered whether there was any evidence indicating the testator intended the gift to pass to the contingent beneficiaries. The court concluded that while the murderer was not entitled to benefit from their crime, the gift over was valid, and there was clear evidence of the testator's intention for the gift to pass to the contingent beneficiaries.

The court ruled that the share of the estate that the beneficiary would have taken was to be distributed to the contingent beneficiaries as specified in the will. Specifically, half of the share was to go to the first respondent, a quarter to the second respondent, and a quarter to the third respondent. The costs of the application were to be paid from the share of the estate in question.

The final order was that the estate share in question should be distributed as per the will, with the costs of the application paid from that share.