Land Transfer Act 1897
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1897 c. 65 |
| Year | 1897 |
Land Transfer Act, 1897
(60 & 61 Vict.) CHAPTER 65.
An Act to establish a Real Representative, and to amend the Land Transfer Act, 1875.
[6th August 1897]
Whereas it is expedient to establish a real representative, and to amend the Land Transfer Act, 1875, in this Act referred to as ‘the principal Act:’
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Part I.
Establishment of a Real Representative.
1 Devolution of legal interest in real estate on death.
(1)1.—(1.) Where real estate is vested in any person without a right in any other person to take by survivorship it shall, on his death, notwithstanding any testamentary disposition, devolve to and become vested in his personal representatives or representative from time to time as if it were a chattel real vesting in them or him.
(2) (2.) This section shall apply to any real estate over which a person executes by will a general power of appointment, as if it were real estate vested in him.
(3) (3.) Probate and letters of administration may be granted in respect of real estate only, although there is no personal estate.
(4) (4.) The expression ‘real estate,’ in this part of this Act, shall not be deemed to include land of copyhold tenure or customary freehold in any case in which an admission or any act by the lord of the manor is necessary to perfect the title of a purchaser from the customary tenant.
(5) (5.) This section applies only in cases of death after the commencement of this Act.
2 Provisions as to administration.
(1)2.—(1.) Subject to the powers, rights, duties, and liabilities herein-after mentioned, the personal representatives of a deceased person shall hold the real estate as trustees for the persons by law beneficially entitled thereto, and those persons shall have the same power of requiring a transfer of real estate as persons beneficially entitled to personal estate have of requiring a transfer of such personal estate.
(2) (2.) All enactments and rules of law relating to the effect of probate or letters of administration as respects chattels real, and as respects the dealing with chattels real before probate or administration, and as respects the payment of costs of administration and other matters in relation to the administration of personal estate, and the powers, rights, duties, and liabilities of personal representatives in respect or personal estate, shall apply to real estate so far as the same are applicable, as if that real estate were a chattel real vesting in them or him, save that it shall not be lawful for some or one only of several joint personal representatives, without the authority of the court, to sell or transfer real estate.
(3) (3.) In the administration of the assets of a person dying after the commencement of this Act, his real estate shall be administered in the same manner, subject to the same liabilities for debt, costs, and expenses, and with the same incidents, as if it were personal estate; provided that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect the order in which real and personal assets respectively are now applicable in or towards the payment of funeral and testamentary expenses, debts, or legacies, or the liability of real estate to be charged with the payment of legacies.
(4) (4.) Where a person dies possessed of real estate, the court shall, in granting letters of administration, have regard to the rights and interests of persons interested in his real estate, and his heir-at-law, if not one of the next-of-kin, shall be equally entitled to the grant with the next-of-kin, and provision shall be made by rules of court for adapting the procedure and practice in the grant of letters of administration to the case of real estate.
3 Provision for transfer to heir or devisee.
(1)3.—(1.) At any time after the death of the owner of any land, his personal representatives may assent to any devise contained in his will, or may convey the land to any person entitled thereto as heir, devisee, or otherwise, and may make the assent or conveyance, either subject to a charge for the payment of any money which the personal representatives are liable to pay, or without any such charge; and on such assent or conveyance, subject to a charge for all moneys (if any) which the personal representatives are liable to pay, all liabilities of the personal representatives in respect of the land shall cease, except as to any acts done or contracts entered into by them before such assent or conveyance.
(2) (2.) At any time after the expiration of one year from the death of the owner of any land, if his personal representatives have failed on the request of the person entitled to the land to convey the land to that person, the court may, if it thinks fit, on the application of that person, and after notice to the personal representatives, order that the conveyance be made, or, in the case of registered land, that the person so entitled be registered as proprietor of the land, either solely or jointly with the personal representatives.
(3) (3.) Where the personal representatives of a deceased person are registered as proprietors of land on his death, a fee shall not be chargeable on any transfer of the land by them unless the transfer is for valuable consideration.
(4) (4.) The production of an assent in the prescribed form by the personal representatives of a deceased proprietor of registered land shall authorise the registrar to register the person named in the assent as proprietor of the land.
4 Appropriation of land in satisfaction of legacy or share in estate.
(1)4.—(1.) The personal representatives of a deceased person may, in the absence of any express provision to the contrary contained in the will of such deceased person, with the consent of the person entitled to any legacy given by the deceased person or to a share in his residuary estate, or, if the person entitled is a lunatic or an infant, with the consent of his committee, trustee, or guardian, appropriate any part of the residuary estate of the deceased in or towards satisfaction of that legacy or share, and may for that purpose value in accordance with the prescribed provisions the whole or any part of the property of the deceased person in such manner as they think fit. Provided that before any such appropriation is effectual, notice of such intended appropriation shall be given to all persons interested in the residuary estate, any of whom may thereupon within the prescribed time apply to the court, and such valuation and appropriation shall be conclusive save as otherwise directed by the court.
(2) (2.) Where any property is so appropriated a conveyance thereof by the personal representatives to the person to whom it is appropriated shall not, by reason only that the property so conveyed is accepted by the person to whom it is conveyed in or towards the satisfaction of a legacy or a share in residuary estate, be liable to any higher stamp duty than that payable on a transfer of personal property for a like purpose.
(3) (3.) In the case of registered land, the production of the prescribed evidence of an appropriation under this section shall authorise the registrar to register the person to whom the property is appropriated as proprietor of the land.
5 Liability for duty.
5. Nothing in this part of this Act shall affect any duty payable in respect of real estate or impose on real estate any other duty than is now payable in respect thereof.
Part II.
Amendments of the Land Transfer Act, 1875.
6 Settled land.
(1)6.—(1.) Settled land may (at the option of the tenant for life) be registered either in the name of the tenant for life, or, where there are trustees with powers of sale, in the names of those trustees, or, where there is an overriding power of appointment of the fee simple, in the names of the persons in whom that power is vested.
(2) (2.) There shall also be entered on the register such restrictions or inhibitions as may be prescribed, or may be expedient, for the protection of the rights of the persons beneficially interested in the land.
(3) (3.) Where land already registered is assured to the uses of a settlement, the instrument of transfer may be in a specially prescribed form, which shall operate as a conveyance to the uses of the settlement, and it shall be the duty of the trustees of the settlement (if any) to concur in the instrument, and to apply for the entry on the register of the proper restrictions or inhibitions under this section. If there are no such trustees, the registrar shall inquire into the terms of the settlement, and shall enter on the register such restrictions or inhibitions as may be prescribed, or as appear to him to be in accordance with this section.
(4) (4.) On the death of a tenant for life, registered as proprietor of settled land, it shall be the duty of the trustees of the settlement (if any) to apply for the registration of his successor or successors, with such restrictions or inhibitions (if any) as may be in accordance with this section. If the trustees neglect to apply or if there are no such trustees, the registrar shall proceed under the forty-first section of the principal Act in such manner as may be prescribed.
(5) (5.) Where a settlement is created by the will of, or otherwise arises in consequence of the death of, a sole registered proprietor of land or of an undivided share in land, it shall be the duty of his personal representatives to apply...
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