Public Trusts Act 1882

Public Trusts Act 1882

This Act may be cited as the Public Trusts Act 1882, and shall commence from the first day of December 1882.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

approved form means a form approved by the Recorder under section 169A of the Land Titles Act 1980;

document of title includes any conveyance, lease, mortgage, or certificate of title, and any bond, promissory note, bill of exchange, policy of assurance, debenture, treasury bill, certificate, warrant, or other document evidencing title to any property where any assignment, transfer, or indorsement, or the signature of the owner to or upon any matter or thing is necessary to pass such property, but does not include any document the mere delivery whereof passes the property comprised therein;

property means property real or personal, including choses in action;

registered head or representative of a religious denomination means the person for the time being registered as such head or representative under the provisions of this Act;

the Recorder means the Recorder of Titles.

All trusts for public, religious, educational, or charitable purposes, and all trusts which the Attorney-General may certify are proper to be registered under this Act may be registered as hereinafter provided.

Except as hereinafter mentioned, every application to register any trust under this Act must be made by the same authority that is necessary for the appointment of a new trustee of such trust, and the vesting of the trust property, and every part thereof in such new trustee, whether solely or together with any surviving or continuing trustees, and, in case of any trust for purposes connected with any religious denomination, with the consent of the registered head or representative of such denomination in Tasmania or in the part of Tasmania to which such trust relates, and, in all other cases, with the consent of the Attorney-General.

The authority or consent of any person to register any trust under this Act shall be evidenced by writing under the hand of such person, and attested by an Australian legal practitioner, public notary, or justice. Any other authority or consent shall be evidenced to the satisfaction of the Recorder by statutory declaration or otherwise.

When any trustee, or the executor, or administrator of any trustee whose authority would be necessary for the registration of any trust under this Act cannot be found, or has been absent from Tasmania for six consecutive months, or refuses or neglects for twenty-eight days after demand to give that authority, the Recorder may, if he thinks fit, order by writing under his hand that the authority of such person be dispensed with; and every such order shall be published in the Gazette; and thereupon such trust may be registered under this Act notwithstanding that the authority of such person has not been obtained.

The Recorder shall not dispense with the authority of any person who can be found, and is in Tasmania, except after notice to such person of the application to dispense with his authority and giving him an opportunity to be heard in opposition to the same.

If it appear to the Recorder that any person with whose consent he is asked to dispense has, or is likely to have, any claim to any payment or indemnity of which he could lawfully demand satisfaction before parting with the trust property to a duly appointed successor, the Recorder may require as a condition to dispensing with the consent of such person that security be given in such form and in such amount as the Recorder may deem sufficient for the satisfaction of such claim.

The demand hereinbefore mentioned shall be in writing, and in case of trusts for purposes connected with any religious denomination shall be made by or on behalf of the registered head or representative of the denomination, and in all other cases by the other trustees or trustee or by the Attorney-General.

Every application to register any trust under this Act shall be in writing addressed to the Recorder, in the approved form signed by some one at least of the persons whose authority or consent is necessary for such registration, and shall be supported by evidence showing –

what are the trusts;

what are the names and descriptions of the trustees;

how the trustees may be changed;

of what the trust property consists;

that the application is made by the authority and with the consent hereinbefore required; and that every document, matter, and thing, relating to or affecting any of the matters aforesaid is mentioned in the application.

If the Recorder is satisfied that the trust is one which may be registered under this Act, and that the evidence by which the application is supported is sufficient, he shall register such trust.

The Recorder shall keep or cause to be kept a book, to be called the Register of Public Trusts, the folios of which shall be numbered consecutively, and each of which shall be in the approved form.

Whenever the Recorder decides as aforesaid to register any trust he shall enter or cause to be entered at the top of a folium in the Register of Public Trusts a short description of the trust such as he may deem sufficient for the purpose of distinguishing it from other registered trusts, and in case the trust is for religious purposes connected with any particular religious denomination, of denoting with what denomination it is connected, and he shall enter or cause to be entered in the proper line and column the number of the trustees, the name and description of every trustee, and the date of making the entry, and sign his name in the proper column in the same line with the name of every trustee to authenticate the entry; and thereupon such trust shall be deemed to be registered under the provisions of this Act.

Upon registering any trust under the provisions of this Act, the Recorder shall write or cause to be written upon every document showing the nature of such trust, or the manner of changing the trustees, a memorandum setting forth the description by which, and the folium of the Register of Public Trusts on which such trust is registered, so as to connect such document with such register, together with the date of signing such memorandum, and shall sign such memorandum.