ABSTRACT
There is evidence of a greater flexibility on the part of the judiciary by judges no longer referring to the ‘rules’ of construction but instead making reference to ‘guides’. Lord Denning has been the strongest critic of hard and fast rules and his approach is typified by his dictum in Re Allsop (Dec’d) (1968): ‘Eschewing technical rules and literal interpretation you must look to see simply what the testator intended. If you find that a literal interpretation gives rise to a capricious result which you are satisfied the testator can never have intended then you should reject that interpretation and seek for a
sensible interpretation which does accord with his intention.’ (For a detailed consideration of the principles see The wind of change in the law of wills’ by Professor CH Sherrin in 40 The Conveyancer, p 66).
