Aidan Briggs explains why donatio mortis causa is an exception to nearly every rule
June Margaret Fairbrother was a consummate animal-lover, keeping cats and dogs and supporting several animal charities. In 1998 she made a will leaving the bulk of her estate between seven charities, including the Chiltern Dog Rescue and Redwings Horse Sanctuary, the appellants. Mr King, her nephew, led a less enviable life. He was bankrupted in 1990 and again in 2000. In 2005 he was convicted of acting as a company director despite being disqualified, and spent three months at Her Majesty’s pleasure. He separated from his wife and, in 2007, moved in with his aunt who was increasingly frail.
Mr King claimed that his aunt promised him her home after her death. She wrote a short note in 2010 leaving him her home “in the hope that he will care for my animals after my death”—the note was not a valid will.
At about the same time a conversation took place in which the testatrix presented her nephew with
