Battling families over legacies

I am concerned how some charities seem to take legal action, funded from the proceeds of their hard-earned (surely?) donations. After all, those same hard-fought donations have come from members of the public who believe the money they give, no matter how small will contribute in some way to the good causes the charity is fighting for.

The priority for all charities is a clear public benefit, but for some charities the desire to collect as much as money as easily as possible overrides everything else. No easier way than to unleash a pack of solicitors on the mourning relatives of deceased benefactor.

I am sure there are given situations where as a beneficiary a charity needs to defend its share of the legacy as it could be said that it is in some way protecting its income, having strict financial controls and so on. However there is a question of morality that must also come into it.

The same should be said of course for those 'relatives' of the deceased who having no relationship with the deceased seek then to have slice of the cake that was never intended for them. Entitlement may often exceed intention when it comes to wills and the courts.

It seems strange that the last will and testament of a person can be so dissected in a court.

That said, perhaps some legacies are so poorly written that their ultimate intention is easily undermined by someone with the brain and background of a solicitor.

Still, it amazes me that the RSPCA can spend £1.3 million in legal costs to fight for more money from an estate. Even if it had won (which it didn't), the gains from the estate would not have massively exceeded their legal bill. How did it ever get to the point of spending £1.3 million? I am flabbergasted that no one at no point said 'whoa!' The case of Caroline Gill shows that no one did shout 'whoa!'.

I can fully understand defending a source of income, but clearly the legal advice needs to be balanced somewhat. Last month the RSPCA was again lambasted by a court for pursuing another estate (George Mason). You can read the article in the Daily Mail here.