O'Brien Estate v. MNR, 91 DTC 1349 (TCC)

No receipt from a charity was required for a bequest to the charity of the residue of the testator's estate upon the death of the life tenant. Mogan J. stated (pp. 1353-1354):

"Even if the gift by will were an immediate bequest, it is unlikely that any tangible value would be transferred to the charity until a year after death when the executors would have brought together for administration the assets of the deceased. ... But when a tangible gift is not in fact made and the registered charity is given only an intangible but vested future interest in property, the charity cannot be expected to issue a receipt because the value of the gift can frequently be determined only with the knowledge of many facts (like the age and health of the life tenant as in this case) which may not be available to the charity ..."

The testator in his will provided for the payment of any or all of the income of the trust fund to his nephew for life without any power to encroach on capital, and for payment of the residue on the death of the nephew to a charity. The testator was held to have made a gift for purposes of s. 110(2.1) and (1.2) equal to an actuarial estimate of the value of the future payments to be made to the charity.