Moggridge v Thackwell: Defining the Nature of the Courts’ Scheme-Making Power

The cy-près doctrine is a well-known privilege of charity law. In the testamentary context, its function is to keep property in charity which might otherwise lapse into residue and then fall into private hands. In wills cases, the doctrine applies where a testator has made a failed gift. It permits a scheme to be written correcting the defect in the bequest. The change made by the scheme is often far-reaching. Turning a failed gift into a successful one will normally mean a substantial rewrite of the donor’s wishes. And so it is a doctrine of consequence, allowing direct intervention into the disposition of property.