Mona Webster (1913-2009)
Hitting the high notes
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, and the illuminated tree erected at Lincoln Center during the gift-giving season.
Birds and opera were Mona Webster's two great passions, and she gave generously to both in her will.
The birds enjoyed her largesse tax-free. The gift to the human warblers was hit by inheritance tax.
Mona Webster was born on the Isle of Man - her father was the keeper of the Douglas Head lighthouse. The family moved to Orkney while she was still a girl, and it was there that she developed a lifelong passion for birds.
After Orkney she lived in Edinburgh and then resided with her husband in London. Later in life she returned to Edinburgh, where she died a widow.
Mona and her investment-manager husband Ted had no children but obviously managed their own investments well. At her death, Mona was worth about £10m.
Among her favourite activities, Mona Webster travelled the world, looking at birds and listening to opera.
Her main beneficiaries were the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the New York Metropolitan Opera - she gave several million pounds to each. She made a smaller gift to London's opera house, Covent Garden.
She had a particular warm spot for New York's Metropolitan Opera, thanks primarily to their live Saturday broadcasts. Mona Webster was a devoted listener to the live matinee relays (afternoon in New York, early evening in Scotland) and attended live performances when her travels took her to New York City.
Mona also allocated £825,000 for other donations and gifts, and left her Edinburgh home (value c. £550,000) to friends. Harking back to her childhood and her father's vocation, she also remembered the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) in her will.
Gifts to charities are normally tax free. However, the Met is a foreign charity and, as such, that gift was subject to IHT.
Did she know that her gift to the Met would not only be taxed, but taxed heavily? Her background suggests that she did. She had an investment-savvy husband, and she herself worked for the Inland Revenue. She gave generous gifts while she was alive, and probably knew exactly what she was doing with her will.
