Bermuda has recently passed the Perpetuities and Accumulations Amendment Act, 2015 (the “Amendment Act”), which is hoped to further strengthen Bermuda’s reputation as a premier jurisdiction in which to establish and administer trusts, and particularly also a jurisdiction to which trusts may easily and conveniently be migrated from other jurisdictions.
By way of background, pursuant to the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act, 2009 (the “2009 Act”) (operative from 1 August 2009) Bermuda abolished (or dis-applied) the Rule Against Perpetuities (the “Rule”) for all trusts established after that date. While the Rule no longer applied to trusts established after 1 August 2009, it continued to apply to Bermuda law trusts established prior to that date and to any trusts, whenever established, which owned real property situated in Bermuda. In addition, the Rule would generally continue to apply to trusts established after 1 August 2009 that had been created under foreign law which applies a perpetuity limitation or because they originated out of a trust or trusts that were established prior to that date under the ‘relation back’ doctrine, unless they were created by way of a general power of appointment, in which case any application of the Rule would run from the date of the exercise of such general power. Read more.
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