Knight v Knight
| Knight v Knight | |
|---|---|
 Downton Castle, Herefordshire | |
| Court | Court of Chancery |
| Full case name | Knight v Boughton |
| Decided | 7 August 1840 |
| Citation(s) | (1840) 49 ER 58, (1840) 3 Beav 148 |
| Case opinions | |
| Lord Langdale MR | |
| Keywords | |
| Precatory words, trust, gift, will | |
_Arms.png)
Knight v Knight (1840) 49 ER 58 is an
wills, or whether the wording of the will is too vague to allow beneficiaries to collect what appears on the face of the will to be theirs. The case has been followed in most common law
jurisdictions.
Facts
Richard I Knight (1659–1749) of
tail male
to his male descendants. But if there were none, the property was to pass to the "next descendant in the direct male line of my late grandfather, Richard Knight of Downton". However, he also stated:
"I trust to the liberality of my successors to reward any others of my old servants and tenants according to their deserts, and to their justice in continuing the estates in the male succession, according to the will of the founder of the family, my above-named grandfather".
Thomas Knight died
strict settlement
in favour of the male line, of which he was the senior representative. Sir William Rouse-Boughton argued that no such trust had been created and that the property had in fact gone to Thomas absolutely, and thus on to Charlotte and his family.
Judgment
Lord Langdale MR held that the words of Payne's will were not sufficiently certain, which meant that there had been an absolute gift to Thomas, who had taken the property unfettered by any trust in favour of the male line. He formulated a legal test, now known as the "three certainties". This test specified that for a valid trust to be created, there must be three certainties:
- (1) Certainty of intention: there must be intention to create a trust;
- (2) Certainty of subject matter: the assets constituting the trust must be readily determinable;
- (3) Certainty of objects: the people to whom the trustees are to owe a duty must be readily determinable.
See also
- English trusts law
- Certainty in English law
Notes
- ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p.1306, pedigree of Rouse-Boughton-Knight of Downton Castle, 1st quarter. Blazoned similarly for their cousins Knight of Wolverley, Worcestershire, in: Victoria County History, Worcestershire, Vol.3, 1913, Parishes: Wolverley, pp.567-573 as: Argent, three pales gules in a bordure engrailed azure on a quarter gules a spur or (Victoria County History, Worcestershire, Vol.3, 1913, Parishes: Wolverley, pp.567-573)
- ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p.1305, pedigree of Knight of Wolverley