Possible good news for charities faced with unmeritorious legacy disputes

My colleague in our Charity Team, Hannah Kubie, has written an excellent article about the long-delayed reforms to the law relating to charities making ex-gratia payments, which take effect today.

There is an intersection between the rules relating to ex-gratia payments and legacy disputes. Charities may often find themselves facing a “claim” from an unhappy family member in relation to an estate where the charity is a beneficiary. This claim may have no legal merit at all, but there might be a moral obligation under the new objective test, which would invoke the new ex-gratia regime. This means that, subject to the monetary thresholds, charities will be able to deal with such moral claims without having to apply to the Charity Commission, saving time and reducing the administrative burden.