ABSTRACT
Requiring a formal declaration of a trust of land makes a contribution towards ensuring proper notice of the existence of the trust to future purchasers of the land, and so of the need to overreach the trust within the conveyancing framework of the 1925 property legislation. This chapter describes the orthodox view of the law on the subject; then to put forward an alternative understanding of the law, justified by reference to the wording of the relevant legislation, the purpose lying behind it, and the existing case-law - and the absence of substantial practical objections to the proposed reinterpretation of the law. It focuses on how the revised view of the law impacts upon the concerns of the Law Commission. The chapter seeks to challenge the conventional understanding of the formalities required by statute for the declaration of a trust of land. It suggests that the law on this matter is more misunderstood than unsatisfactory.
