Meat Eater Leaves Estate to Vegetarian Society

In The Vegetarian Society v Jennifer Scott, a meat-eating millionaire left 80% of his estate to the Vegetarian Society.  His family challenged his Will, claiming he lacked mental capacity.

The challenge was unsuccessful even though the testator suffered from schizophrenia and logical thought disorder.  This quirky millionaire slept in a sleeping bag on a sofa, wrote his thoughts in his old school geography book, and went about with his shoes held together with string. 

Despite his oddities and the fact that he “enjoyed sausages and an English cooked breakfast,” the Court concluded that, because mental capacity is task and time-specific, these facts did not necessarily show he lacked capacity at the time he made his Will.

See Sarah Playforth, Mental Capacity Case – Meat-Eating Testator Can Leave His Millions to the Vegetarian Society, Kingsley Napley, March 24, 2014.