Settled Land Acts

The Settled Land Acts were a series of English land law enactments concerning the limits of creating a settlement, a conveyancing device used by a property owner who wants to ensure that provision of future generations of his family.

By using the device of the strict settlement the ownership of the property was divided over time by using limited freehold estates.

The most common example of strict settlement occurs where a landowner provides in his will that the land is to go to his eldest son for life and then the remainder is to pass to his son's eldest son in fee tail.

Settlement would often provide for payment of an annuity to the widow (jointure). Provision could be made for the younger children of the landowner by giving them a capital sum on reaching a certain age or getting married (portions). These were capital sums designed to set them up for life. They were secured by charging them on the land.

The strict settlement meant that the land was effectively inalienable.

The Settled Land Acts 1882 to 1890 is the collective title of the following Acts:

The primary aim of this legislation was as Lord Halsbury stated in Bruce v. Ailesbury "to release the land from the fetters of the settlement – to render it a marketable article not withstanding the settlement".

The legislation achieved this by giving the tenant for life statutory powers to deal with the land which far exceeded the powers he had previously under common law. The most important of these powers was the power of the tenant for life to sell the fee simple interest in the land and not just a life estate pur autre vie.

Second aim of the legislation was to protect the interests of the beneficiaries under the settlement. Their interests were over-reached i.e. they detached from the land and became attached to the proceeds of sale instead, their interests shifted to the money – i.e. the settlement now applied to the proceeds of sale.

The Acts apply whenever there is a settlement.

A settlement is defined by s2(1) of the 1882 Act as "any land or any estate or interest in land, which stands for the time being limited to or in trust for any persons by way of succession".

Basically whenever a document creates a succession of interests in land the Settled Land Acts will apply.

Generally there must be an element of succession. Section 59 creates one situation of settled land where there is no element of succession – where an infant is entitled in possession to land it is deemed to be settled land even though it may not be limited by way of succession i.e. he might he entitled to a fee simple. This was to ensure the commerciability of land owned by a minor as a purchaser would be reluctant to sign a contract with him given that it was voidable once the minor reached the age of majority.

...
Wikipedia