Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1992

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – court includes a person acting judicially; disposition includes the conferring or exercise of a power of appointment or any other power or authority to dispose of an interest in, or a right over, property and any other disposition of an interest in, or a right over, property; instrument includes a will and any other instrument, whether testamentary or not, by which a power of appointment, whether general or special is exercised, but does not include an Act of Parliament; perpetuity period, in the application of the rule against perpetuities to a disposition, means – a period determined in accordance with this Act as the perpetuity period applicable to that disposition; or if there is no period so determined, the period applicable to that disposition by virtue of the rule against perpetuities; power of appointment includes a discretionary power to transfer, grant or create a beneficial interest in property without valuable consideration; property includes any interest in real or personal property and any thing in action; spouse includes the person with whom a person is, or was at the time of his or her death, in a significant relationship, within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003; the Supreme Court includes a judge of that Court; will includes a codicil to a will.

For the purposes of the application of the rule against perpetuities – a disposition contained in a will is taken to be made at the death of the testator; and a person is taken to be – a member of a class if all the conditions identifying a member of the class are satisfied in the case of that person; and a potential member of a class if only one or some of those conditions are satisfied in the case of that person but there is a possibility that the remainder of those conditions will in time be satisfied; and a person en ventre sa mère but subsequently born alive is treated as a person who was alive at the relevant time.