Passed Jan 2024 SQE 1 first try (1st Quintile) using these notes. Summarises everything you need to know for the core knowledge of Land Law and Trusts Law aspects of the SQE 1.
Carefully curated summary notes, aligned precisely with SRA guidelines, comprehensive and also tailored to the specifics ...
Core Principles of Land & Trust Law
Table of Contents
Land Law: Pages 1-9
Trusts Law: Pages 10-19
Nature of Land:........................................................................................................................................1
Title to Land:............................................................................................................................................3
Co-ownership and Trusts:..........................................................................................................................4
Proprietary Rights:...................................................................................................................................5
Leases:......................................................................................................................................................8
Creation and requirements of express trusts:..........................................................................................10
Beneficial entitlement:............................................................................................................................12
The distinction between charitable trusts and non-charitable purpose trusts..........................................13
Resulting trusts:......................................................................................................................................14
Trusts of the family home:......................................................................................................................14
Liability of strangers to the trust:............................................................................................................15
The fiduciary relationship and its obligations:.........................................................................................16
Trustees:.................................................................................................................................................17
Trustees’ liability:....................................................................................................................................18
The nature of equitable remedies and the availability of tracing in equity..............................................19
Core principles of Land Law
Nature of Land:
Distinction between real property and personal property
- Real property: land
- Personal property: every other type of property
How to acquire and transfer legal estates
- 2 recognised legal estates:
o Freehold (fee simple absolute in possession/term of years absolute): estate with uncertain duration
o Leasehold: fixed for a maximum duration
- Legal estates can be bought, sold, gifted, inherited
Freehold estate formalities Leasehold estate formalities
Transfer of a registered estate must be by deed and Grant of legal lease for over 7 years must be
registered granted by deed and registered
Grant of legal lease for 7 years or less must be
granted by deed but need not be registered
Transfer of an unregistered freehold estate triggers Transfer of an unregistered lease (assignment)
first registration requirement must be by deed but does not need to be
registered unless there are over 7 years left on the
, term at the point of transfer
Grant of legal lease for 3 years of less does not
require any formalities if lease is granted at market
rent, takes effect in possession and tenant does not
pay any upfront premium (parole lease)
How to acquire and dispose of legal and equitable interests in land
Legal Interests
- Legal interests must be created by deed and registered (except implied legal easements):
o Mortgages: creation of a first legal mortgage will trigger first registration at HMLR
o Easements: servient tenement and dominant tenement will be established
o Rights of entry
- For a deed to be valid it must be:
o In writing
o Clearly intended to be a deed
o Executed as a deed by seller/landlord or grantor (signed in presence of a witness)
- Deeds are delivered if a party expresses an intention to be bound by the deed (dating the deed)
Equitable Interests
- If an attempt to create a legal interest fails, an equitable interest may arise
Equitable interest Formalities
Estate contracts (including failed legal interests) In writing, contain all terms, signed by both parties
Restrictive covenant In writing, signed be grantor
Mortgage over an equitable interest In writing, signed by grantor
Interest in express trust of land In writing, signed by declarant
Interest in implied trust of land No formalities
Methods to protect and enforce third party interests
- Legal interests bind all third parties, equitable interests bind only third parties who are not bona fide
purchasers for value without notice
- Most equitable rights and interests must be registered as a Land Charge to be protected:
o C(i) – Puisne mortgage (second legal mortgage)
o C(ii) – limited owners charge
o C(iii) – general equitable charge
o C(iv) – estate contract
o D(i) – tax paid on death
o D(ii) – restrictive covenants
o D(iii) – equitable easements
o F – protects non-owning spouses statutory right of occupation
- Registration must be made against the correct estate owners name and not the property address
- Registration constitutes actual notice
o If a land charge is not registered, it is void against a purchase of the legal estate for money
- Doctrine of Notice: if an interest does not appear on the list of registrable land charges, whether it
binds a buyer will depend on whether the buyer had notice
- Buyers will be free of such equitable interests if they can show they:
o Acted bona fide
o Were a purchaser for value
o Acquired a legal estate or legal interest
o Had no notice of the equitable interest
- Notice can be:
, o Actual
o Constructive – facts that if a reasonable enquiry was made would have shown the interest existed
o Imputed – notice is given to an agent
- When unregistered land is first registered, it becomes subject to unregistered interests which override
first registration and become automatically binding upon registration of the land title:
o Leases granted for 7 years or less
o Legal easement
o Local land charge
o Interest belonging to a person in actual possession
- Legal interests on registered land are protected by entries on the HMLR official copies against the title
number of the land
Title to Land:
Registration of title to land:
- System is based on 3 principles:
o Mirror principle (registers reflects all matters that the property has benefit of/is subject to)
o Curtain principle (if property is not held on trust, buyer does not worry about beneficial ownership)
o Insurance principle (accuracy of register is guaranteed by the state)
- Each registered title official copy is split into 3 registers:
o Property register
o Proprietorship register
o Charges register
- It is compulsory to register certain events within land, otherwise transaction is not legally recognised
- Overriding interest are interest that do not appear on the register but will still be binding on the owner
of the legal estate and any buyer
Estates that can be substantively registered
- Registered freehold estates
- Transfer of unregistered freehold triggering first registration
- Assignment of unregistered lease with over 7 years left to run
- Legal lease for over 7 years
- Legal lease for 7 years of less (optional)
How to protect interests
Legal Interests
- A purchaser for valuable consideration will take land subject to all properly registered registrable
dispositions:
o Express legal easements (property register)
o First legal mortgage (proprietorship and charges register)
o Grant of landlord’s right of entry
o Transfer of a registered estate
o Legal lease for 7 years or more
Equitable Interests
- All equitable interests (other than beneficial interest in a trust of land) must be protected by entry of a
notice in Charges Register of burdened land:
o Restrictive covenants affecting freehold land
o Estate contracts
o Equitable easement
o Equitable leases
o Legal leases for 3-7 years (optional)
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