Ademption of legacies in a Will
My father prepared his Will ten years before his death. At the time of preparing the Will one of the buildings was a bar annexed with a recreation hall. Three years before his death he converted it into a Pentecostal Christian church. After conversion he changed the bar and hall into a church for worship of his congregation. A Will was read after my father’s death bequeathing a bar and the annexed hall to me. My father’s fellow worshippers and my sister who got converted also are up in arms resisting my bequest. I want to sue for my right. Guide me.
TL, Musoma
We are sorry to tell you that your suit will not succeed to enable you retain your legacy of the bar and annexed hall as stated in the Will of your demised father. The law is that if anything has been specifically bequeathed but does not belong to a testator at the time of his death, or has been converted into property of a different kind, the legacy cannot take effect by reason of the subject matter having been withdrawn from the operation of the Will. At the time of preparing the Will, the property which your father bequeathed to you was a bar and the annexed recreation hall and not a church. In that respect, the bar and the annexed recreation hall were deemed three years before your father’s death and for that matter it was withdrawn from the operation of your father’s Will. Your advocate can guide you further.