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The rule originated from the Duke of Norfolk’s Case of 1682, which, in the Shakespearian flavour of the time, “concerneth a Great and Noble Family”, namely the Earl of Arundel, who tried to create an estate plan that would endure for many generations. The House of Lords felt that he should not be able to bind his estate with his conditions indefinitely.
Subsequent case law developed on the basis that, after a certain period of time (traditionally twenty-one years after the last to die of certain people who were living at the time of creation of the trust, known as the “perpetuity period”), the property should be released from trust absolutely so that future generations could deal with it unencumbered by the so-called “dead hand” of their ancestors. For many centuries, the rule served this purpose.
To continue reading full articles in PDF format:
It’s About Time: Bermuda’s Approach to the Rule against Perpetuities