Charities to challenge £340k legacy in High Court

Four charities are contesting a will by Tracey Leaning, who died from cancer in 2015

Four charities, including the Dogs Trust, are challenging a £340,000 will at the High Court after the charities were cut out of the final estate, according to media reports.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper has reported today that Dogs Trust, World Animal Protection, Friends of the Animals and Heart Research UK are challenging a will by Tracey Leaning, who died of cancer in 2015.

The newspaper says that Leaning had written a will in 2007 that left her property and money to the charities, worth an estimated £340,000.

But following her diagnosis in 2014, Leaning wrote another will, which was handwritten and witnessed by a neighbour, that left her house, belongings and savings to her partner, Richard Guest, the newspaper says.

The newspaper reports that Guest met Leaning between the completion of the first and second wills, and has offered the charities £60,000 and the house in trust to settle the case.

The Dogs Trust was unable to provide a comment before Third Sector’s deadline.

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Macmillan Cancer Support’s income rises by £17m to reach record high

The charity’s accounts for 2016 also show that income from legacies increased by 20 per cent

Macmillan Cancer Support’s income rose by approximately £17m to reach a record high of £247m in 2016, its latest accounts show.

The charity’s accounts, which were released last week and cover the year to 31 December 2016, showed income grew by 7 per cent to hit £247m, compared with £230m the previous year.

The charity’s spending also increased by more than £5m from £240.5m to £245.6m in 2016.

Income from legacies also rose by more than £13m, up 20 per cent from £63.9m in 2015 to £76.8m in 2016.

The accounts say that it expects that £35m of the legacy income accrued will be received within the next year.

Overall income from donations, excluding legacies, also increased from £151.1m to £156.5m, according to the accounts.

This meant that the charity had a surplus for the year of £6.2m, and cited a “very strong income performance in the latter part of the year” as a key reason for its record income.

MacMillan’s total funds also rose from £58.1m to £64.3m in the latest accounts.

The charity’s chief executive, Lynda Thomas, saw her income rise from within the £160,001 to £170,000 wage bracket to between £170,001 and £180,000, the accounts show.

Total earnings for Macmillan’s executive team, including pensions, benefits and termination payments, were almost £1.3m compared with £929,000 the previous year. 

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