In a recent case, Gruber v. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2025 ONSC 3088, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dealt with a bequest from a Canadian estate to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which is a qualified donee as a foreign registered university.
There was a concern by the Executor regarding whether there was uncertainty and what part of the will is legally binding versus precatory. The case is interesting and highlights the importance of clear drafting of a will. In one place it refers to “use the residue of my estate to establish an endowment at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem” and in another place “my entire estate shall be bequeathed to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the purpose of creating a foundation”. There were a lot of “assumptions” made, and luckily, in this case, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was prepared to accommodate those, but the court found that they were precatory or non-binding.
We can learn that while an estate can give either unrestricted or restricted funds, unless one is very careful in the wording used, one will end up creating a lot of unnecessary work for your executor. If you appoint a friend as an executor, it is even more important to make sure that your will is clear!
Bequests can be a very powerful way to provide funds to charities or non-profits, and mostly they are relatively straightforward.