Jersey Is Not Part Of The UK!

In the matter of Shandra Prakash Bhasin [2015] Royal Court, unreported judgment 10 September 2015

In the matter of the Estate of Meena Krishnan (deceased)[2015] unreported judgment, 1 September 2015.

We have two cases in this briefing which make the same simple point. Jersey is not part of the UK! We shall start with the Bhasin case.

The Bhasin case

This case dealt with two points, both of which have come before the Royal Court before: both points however, are of general interest and are therefore worth restating. The first is a simple re-statement of a fact (of relevance to will draftsmen outside Jersey who may be under a misapprehension), namely that Jersey is not part of the United Kingdom. Jersey is a crown dependency and as such part of the territory of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The second point is a succinct re-confirmation by the Royal Court of how it approaches the interpretation of a foreign will.

Facts

The deceased died domiciled in Kenya on 19 May 1996. He had one child from his marriage to Jean Bhasin (the respondent in the application); he subsequently divorced his wife; the daughter survived the deceased but died without issue on 7 October 2012. The deceased travelled to England with his medical practitioner during 1995. He signed English and Jersey wills on the 16 June 1995. The Jersey will was explicit; it only applied to movable estate of the deceased in Jersey. The English will was similarly worded but in relation to assets in the UK. The deceased then returned to Kenya, and on the 23 February 1995 executed his Kenyan will. Whilst the Kenyan will disposed of only the deceased's estate in Kenya, unfortunately it contained the following words:

"I hereby revoke all my Wills made by me at any time hereinbefore."

The deceased then made a codicil on 17 May 1996 which dealt entirely with Kenyan assets. It was in handwriting and contained the following statement:

"My UK assets have been dealt with separately".

Accordingly, when the Jersey will was presented to the probate registrar in Jersey, the question was raised by the registrar as to whether the Kenyan will had had the effect of revoking the Jersey will. The Judge, namely Commissioner Clyde-Smith helpfully stated the principles to be applied by the Royal Court, a similar issue having arisen in the case of Re Hawksford Executors Limited [2013] 2 JLR 357:

(i) In relation to private international law, the Jersey courts have consistently had regard to English common...