CG37540 | Absolute entitlement: indivisible assets: English land/trusts

In English law, if the settled property is land in England or Wales, the decision of Goff J in Crowe v Appleby, 51TC457, shows that there is no occasion of absolute entitlement on the occurrence of any contingency other than the final one. The land as a whole remains settled property, and any actual disposal of it is a disposal entirely by the trustees. The beneficiary has no right to call upon the trustees to transfer to him or her a divided share of the land or to create a tenancy in common, see CG70500+.

Thus if, in the example in CG37520, the trustees own a piece of land, Blackacre, then A, B and C should be regarded as becoming jointly absolutely entitled to Blackacre as tenants in common when C attains age 25 and the trustees as disposing of Blackacre under Section 71(1) on that date.

If you refer to Crowe v Appleby in correspondence, it is important to make it clear that you are referring to the judgment of Goff J in the High Court. The Court of Appeal judgments were concerned with what is now TCGA92/S72 (5).