Joan Edwards died at age 90 and left a bequest in her will for “whichever government is in office at the date of my death.” Recently, the list of political donations published by the Electoral Commission revealed that Edwards had donated £420,576 to the Conservatives and £99,423 to the Lib Dems. When the confusion began, the parties had agreed to give the Treasury the money as a good faith gesture. The Treasury has come up with steps the executors can take to find out who the proper recipient of the money should be.
See Kelly Hurnke, Ambiguous Bequest Leaves Money in Limbo, Wealth Strategies, Sep. 2, 2013.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
