Further to our April 2021 news alert (The British Virgin Islands Modernises its Trustee Act and Welcomes Changes to Its Probate Legislation), linked here, the following Acts have been brought into force effective 9 July 2021:
- Trustee (Amendment) Act, 2021
- Probates (Resealing) Act, 2021.
As discussed in our linked news alert, the Trustee (Amendment) Act implements a number of important, cutting-edge changes to the Trustee Act. The Probates (Resealing) Act, 2021 replaces the Probates (Resealing) Act (Cap. 60) and allows for the resealing of foreign grants of probate and letters of administration in the BVI to 67 jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and the United States of America.
The Virgin Islands Special Trusts (Amendment) Act, 2021 was also brought into force effective 9 July 2021. It amends the Virgin Islands Special Trusts Act, 2003, as previously amended (Special Trusts Act) as a consequence of the amendment to the Trustee Act (new section 58B of which empowers the High Court to vary a trust in certain circumstances). Section 12 of the Special Trusts Act deals with the modification of the rule in Saunders v Vautier as it relates to trusts with respect to which the application of section 58 of the Trustee Act is specifically excluded. Section 12 provides that beneficiaries interested in designated shares comprised in a trust fund shall not be entitled to call for or direct any transfer of those shares or to terminate or modify the trust in relation to them. The Amendment provides that during the period of exclusion of entitlement, new section 58B of the Trustee Act will also not apply.
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