Re Keen [1937] 1 Ch 236

Key point

A sealed letter to be opened upon the testator’s passing constitutes sufficient communication of a secret trust

The will of K included clause 5 which instructed trustees to hold the sum of £10,000 ‘upon trust and disposed of by them among such person, persons or charities as may be notified by me to them or either of them during my lifetime’
Before the will was made, K gave one trustee a sealed envelope containing the name of a lady, which was not to be opened until after his death

Even though the beneficiary’s was unknown to the trustee during the lifetime of the testator, the sealed letter was sufficient notification within the definition of ‘notified’ in clause 5
‘To take a parallel, a ship which sails under sealed orders, is sailing under orders though the exact terms are not ascertained by the captain till later’
However, the half secret trust is void as clause 5 of the will could only refer to a trust that is to be created after the execution of the will, which would be void pursuant to Blackwell v Blackwell [1929] AC 318, which states that for a half secret trust to be valid, it must be created before the execution of the will

There was no reason why the trust could not then take effect as a full secret trust