Legacy is a bequest or gift of personal property by will. In England it is provided by the Wills Act of 1837 that if a legacy is given to the witness of a will, or to his or her wife or husband, the legacy is void; also bequests to superstitious uses are void, as, for example, to maintain a priest, or an anniversary or obit, or a lamp in a church, or to say masses for the testator's soul, or to circulate pamphlets inculcating the pope's supremacy. Legacies of money for charitable purposes, as for the use of schools, churches, &c., are valid, but if the money is directed to be laid out in the purchase of land for such purposes the legacy is void by what is called the Mortmain Acts (amended and consolidated by the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1888). Certain favoured institutions and charities are exempted from the operation of these acts.
Legacies are divided into specific, general, demonstrative, and cumulative. A specific legacy means a legacy of a definite thing, as a particular horse, picture, silver-plate, &c., or a sum of stock in the funds. A general legacy means a sum of money, without it being stated out of what fund it is to come, and it is payable out of the assets generally. The important difference between these two kinds of legacy is this, that if the subject-matter of the specific legacy fail, as if the horse die or be previously sold, &c. (ademption), the legacy is gone, and no compensation is given for it after payment of the testator's debts. But legacies given for valuable consideration do not suffer abatement; while, on the other hand, if there is not enough to pay all the general legacies, then they must abate—i.e. share the loss—whereas the specific legacy, if it exist, must still be paid in full. A demonstrative is something like a general legacy, but a particular fund is named from which it is to be satisfied. It is not liable to ademption by any act of the testator, nor is it liable to abatement with general legacies as long as it does not exceed the fund from which it is to be paid. A cumulative or substitutional is a second legacy given to the same person, and the question for settlement in that case is whether the later gift is in addition to or in place of the first. A legacy is not payable by the executor till a year has elapsed after the testator's death, for it is presumed he requires this time to inquire into the state of the property; and this is true even though the testator has ordered the legacy to be paid within six months after the death. If a legacy is left to an infant under twenty-one it cannot be paid to the father or any other relative without the sanction of the Court of Chancery. Formerly, if a legacy was left to a married woman the husband was entitled to claim it, unless it was left to her separate use, or unless she was unprovided for by the husband; but now in all cases the wife gets for her separate use all property coming to her. Interest is due on legacies from the time when the principal sum is payable—i.e. one year after the death—unless otherwise specified. If the legatee die before the testator the legacy lapses—i.e. becomes void; but there are some exceptions, as where the legatee is a child or grandchild of the testator. A legacy to a creditor, if equal to or greater than the debt, is presumed to be in satisfaction thereof. If the estate from which a legacy is claimed do not exceed £500, an action to compel payment may be brought in the county court. The person to whom the remainder of the property is left after all claims are discharged is called the residuary legatee.—In Scotland the rules as to legacies are mainly the same, but a verbal legacy up to £100 Scots (£8, 6s. 8d.) is valid. In Scotland a legacy can be enforced in six months after the testator's death, and bears interest at 5 per cent. from such death. If a legacy is left to a married woman, the property in it vests in her; she can enjoy the income, but cannot dispose of the corpus without the concurrence of her husband.
In the United Kingdom, where the whole personal estate is under £100 there is no legacy duty, and for under £300 the fixed inventory duty of 30s. 'is deemed to be a full satisfaction of any claim to legacy duty.' In other cases the rate is inversely as the degree of relationship. The husband or wife of the testator pays no duty; the child or lineal descendant, a parent or lineal ancestor, pays 1 per cent.; a brother or sister, or their descendants, 3 per cent.; others, in proportion to their remoteness, 5 and 6 and 10 per cent. The last is in all cases the maximum rate. The royal family are exempt from legacy duty. See Jarman on Wills, and Williams on Executors.