Government Annuities Act, 1853

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GOVERNMENT ANNUITIES ACT 1853

C A P. XLV.

An Act to consolidate and amend the Laws and to grant additional Facilities in relation to the Purchase of Government Annuities through the Medium of Saving Banks, and to make other Provisions in respect thereof. [4th August 1853.]

‘Whereas it is expedient that the existing Acts of Parliament relating to the Purchase of Government Annuities through the Medium of Savings Banks should be repealed, in order that the same may be consolidated and amended:’ Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:

So much of 3 W. 4. c. 14. and 7 & 8 Vict. c. 83. as relates to Purchase of Government Annuities through the Medium of Savings Banks, &c. repealed.

I. So much of the Act passed in the Third Year of the Reign of King William the Fourth, Chapter Fourteen, as relates to the enabling Depositors in Savings Banks and others to purchase Government Annuities through the Medium of Savings Banks and Parochial Societies, and so much of another Act passed in the Seventh and Eighth Years of Her present Majesty, Chapter Eighty-three, as relates to the Purchase of Government Annuities through the Medium of Savings Banks, shall be repealed, except as to anything heretofore done, or which shall hereafter be required to be done, in respect to any Annuities granted under the said Acts or either of them, and except also so far as may be necessary for the Purpose of any Proceedings to be taken under or by virtue of the same Acts or either of them, such Repeal to commence and take effect on and after the Tenth Day of October One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.

Commissioners for Reduction of National Debt may receive Money from Depositors, &c. for Purchase of Annuities.

II. From and after the said Tenth Day of October One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, it shall and may be lawful for the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to grant to or for the Benefit of any Depositor in a Savings Bank, or other Person whom the said Commissioners shall think entitled to be or to become a Depositor in a Savings Bank, any Immediate or Deferred Life Annuities depending on single Lives, or Immediate Annuities depending on joint Lives with Benefit of Survivorship or on the joint Continuance of Two Lives, to any Amount not less than Four Pounds nor more than Thirty Pounds in the whole, to or for the Benefit of any One Person, and to receive Payment for such Immediate Life Annuities in One Sum, and for such Deferred Life Annuities either in One Sum or in annual Sums payable for fixed Periods: Provided always, that no such Annuities shall be granted to or for the Benefit of any Person under the Age of Ten Years.

Annuity may be granted to Husband and Wife.

III. Such Annuity may be granted to or possessed by any married Man or Woman, although an Annuity to the same or a less Amount may have been granted to or possessed by the Wife or Husband of such Party.

Deferred Annuities may be granted with a Condition that Purchase Money shall be returnable;

IV. The said Commissioners may grant such Deferred Life Annuities on condition that the Purchase Money shall be returnable, but without Interest, in which Case such Purchase Money without Interest shall be returnable at any Time on the Application of the Person beneficially interested in such Annuity, or after his Death on the Application of his Executors or Administrators; provided always, that in no Case whatever shall such Purchase Money or any Part thereof be returned after the first Payment of the said Annuity shall have actually become due, and the Monies so returnable shall be charged, paid, and defrayed out of the Monies standing in the Names of the said Commissioners at the Bank of England under the Provisions of this Act.

or with a Condition that Purchase Money shall not be returnable.

V. The said Commissioners may grant in like Manner and to the like Persons Deferred Life Annuities, of not less than One Pound or some Multiple thereof, not exceeding Thirty Pounds in the whole, to any One Person, and receive Payment for such Annuity in One Sum on condition that the Purchase Money shall not be returnable.

Parties unable to keep up Payments may have an Annuity granted in lieu of Money returned.

VI. Where a Party who has contracted under the Acts hereby repealed or shall contract under this Act for the Purchase of a Deferred Life Annuity by annual Payments shall, after having made One or more of such Payments, be unable to pay the Residue thereof, the said Commissioners may, at the Option of the Party beneficially interested in such Annuity, grant to such Party a Life Annuity, immediate or deferred, equivalent to the Amount of the several Payments so made by him, instead of returning the Amount of such Payments in Money.

Power to convert Deferred into Immediate Annuity.

VII. Where a Party has already contracted under the Acts hereby repealed, or shall hereafter contract under this Act, by Payment in One Sum for a Deferred Life Annuity, the said Commissioners may, at the Option of the Party, grant an Immediate Life Annuity in place and instead of the Deferred Life Annuity, which shall forthwith be cancelled.

Name of Party to be always inserted in Grant.

VIII. No Annuity shall be granted under the Authority of this Act unless the Name of the Party on whose Life and for whose Benefit the Purchase is proposed to be effected shall be inserted in the Grant as a joint Proprietor of the said Annuity.

Cases in which Grants of Annuities may be to Trustees.

IX. No such Annuity shall be granted otherwise than in the sole Name of the Person on whose Life and for whose Benefit the said Annuity is granted, except in the Case of Females, Infants under the Age of Twenty-one Years, Idiots, Persons of unsound Mind or incapacitated by bodily or mental Infirmity from taking care of themselves, of which Proof shall be afforded at the Time of making the Contract to the Satisfaction of the said Commissioners, or Comptroller General or Assistant Comptoller acting under them, in which Cases it shall be lawful to grant such Annuities as are authorized by this Act upon the Life of any such Person to such Person and to any Two or more Persons not interested therein as Trustees for such Person, under such Regulations as shall be prescribed by the said Commissioners or Comptroller General.

Power to grant Money on Death of Persons purchasing Deferred Annuities.

X. The said Commissioners may contract with any such Person or Persons for the Payment of a Sum of Money on his or her Death, provided that the Party contracting for such Payment on Death shall at the same Time purchase a Deferred Annuity depending upon his or her own Life, as the Case may be, and that the Money payable on Death do not exceed the Amount of the Sum paid down for the said Payment on Death and Annuity taken together, and shall in no Case exceed One hundred Pounds in the whole.

Contracts may be made at National Debt Office, or through the Medium of Savings Banks, &c.

XI. The said Commissioners may make such Contracts with such Parties for the Grant of any Annuities under the Authority of this Act, either directly at their own Office or through the Medium of Savings Banks or Parochial or other Societies, or Agents duly authorized by the said Commissioners for such Purpose, and under such Regulations as the said Commissioners shall prescribe, and in such last-mentioned Cases may authorize the said Savings Banks and Societies and Agents to take and demand the like Fees as are sanctioned in respect to such Annuities by the Act of the Seventh and Eighth Victoria above referred to.

Money paid on account of Purchase of Annuity to be kept distinct, and paid to Account of Commissioners.

XII. The said Annuities and Payments on Death herein referred to are hereby made chargeable upon the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, and all Sums of Money from Time to Time paid on account of such Contracts under this Act, or under the Acts hereby repealed, shall be paid into the Bank of England or into the Bank of Ireland to the Account of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, under such Regulations as the said Commissioners shall from Time to Time prescribe in that respect; and the Cashiers of the Bank of England or Bank of Ireland are hereby required to receive all such Monies, and to place the same to the Accounts of the said Commissioners to be entitled “The Fund for purchasing Life Annuities or for Payments on Death, on the Account of Depositors in Savings Banks (as the Case may be);” and the said Commissioners shall in like Manner keep distinct and separate Accounts of all Monies so placed to the said Accounts, pursuant to the Provisions of this Act.

Commissioners to make Rules, Regulations, &c.

Commissioners, &c. may decline to contract for Annuities, &c.

XIII. The said Commissioners, or the Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller acting under the said Commissioners, may require such Proofs of Age and of Identity, and such Certificates, and make such Rules and Regulations in respect to the Grant of all Annuities, and for securing Payments on Death, under the Authority of this Act, and to the Payment thereof, and also to the Payment of all Annuities granted under the Acts hereby repealed, as may appear to them to be necessary and proper for carrying out the Purposes of this Act; and may decline or refuse to contract for any Annuity or for any Payment on Death, under the Provisions of this Act, in any Case where there shall be in the Opinion of the said Commissioners, or of the said Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller, sufficient Grounds for refusing or declining so to do.

Penalty on Persons making false Declaration, &c.

XIV. If any One Individual shall by his own direct Act have or hold or be possessed of or entitled to any Annuity or Annuities granted under the Provisions of this Act or of the Acts hereby repealed, exceeding in the whole the Sum of Thirty Pounds per Annum, or shall make a false Declaration in relation to any Matter or Thing required by the Regulations of the said Commissioners, all the said Annuity or Annuities and Payments on Death shall be forfeited.

Persons contracting for Payments of Sums of Money at Death may commute the same into an Annuity payable after Death to Nominees.

XV. If any Person having contracted for the Payment of a Sum of Money on Death in the Manner herein-before provided shall at any Time, in Writing, in a Form approved of by the said Commissioners, and deposited with them during his Life, direct that the Sum payable at his or her Death be commuted for an Annuity for Life, to commence at his or her Death, and to be paid to any Persons nominated in the said Writing, such Commutation shall take effect, when approved of by the said Commissioners, or by the Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller acting under the said Commissioners, and the Person so nominated shall be entitled to such Life Annuity as shall be the Equivalent to such Sum of Money so payable after Death as aforesaid, such Annuity to commence and take effect on and from the Sixth Day of January, Sixth Day of April, Sixth Day of July, and Eleventh Day of October, as the Case may be, next immediately following the Death of the Party nominating, and be payable and paid at the next following half-yearly Period.

Treasury shall direct Use of Tables of the Value of Annuities as approved by them.

XVI. For the better carrying this Act into execution it shall and may be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, from Time to Time as they shall think fit, to direct the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to use and adopt such Tables as shall from Time to Time be authorized and approved of by the said Commissioners of the Treasury for determining the Values of all Annuities, of whatsoever Kind, which may be granted according to the Provisions of this Act, as well as Tables for Payment of Sums of Money at Death, and such respective Tables shall be valid and effectual for the Purposes of this Act; and all Annuities for Lives, of whatsoever Kind, to be purchased under the Provisions of this Act shall be purchased, and all Payments for Sums to be secured at Death shall be contracted for, according to the Values stated in such Tables respectively, so long as the same shall remain in force; and the said Commissioners of the Treasury may alter, revoke, and recall all or any of the said Tables from Time to Time, and direct the Use and Adoption of such other Tables in lieu thereof as shall be approved of by the said Commissioners of the Treasury, and also discontinue, by any Warrant under their Hands addressed to the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, the granting of any Annuities for Lives, or of Sums payable at Death, under the Provisions of this Act, if they shall think it fit and expedient so to do: Provided always, that the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt shall, previous to the Adoption and using of any such Tables, and Discontinuance of the granting of such Annuities and Payments at Death as aforesaid, give Notice thereof from Time to Time in the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Gazettes, in such Form and Manner as to the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt shall seem fit and proper: Provided also, that the Tables now in force in respect to Annuities grantable under the Authority of the Acts hereby repealed shall be valid and effective for the Purchase and Grant of any Annuities under this Act, so far as they are applicable thereto, until altered, revoked, and recalled by the said Commissioners of the Treasury.

Purchasers of Annuities for Lives shall be entitled to such Amount of Annuity as shall be specified in the Tables.

XVII. In every Case when any Sum of Money shall be paid as the Consideration for the Purchase of any Annuity for Lives of whatsoever Kind, under the Provisions of this Act, or for securing a Payment on Death, the Person or Persons purchasing any such Annuity for Lives or for securing such Payment on Death, shall be entitled to receive from the Period at which the said Annuity is to commence and take effect an Annuity for a Life, or for joint Lives with Benefit of Survivorship, or on the joint Continuance of Two Lives, as the Case may be, of such annual Amount as shall be specified in any such Table or Tables respectively as the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury shall from Time to Time authorize and approve in manner herein-before directed, to be calculated and ascertained according to the Age of the Party; and every Payment to be made on Death shall in like Manner be ascertained and settled according to the said Tables so to be approved and adopted from Time to Time as aforesaid.

Life Annuities under this Act, and Payments at Death, to be carried to separate Accounts.

XVIII. All Life Annuities, of whatsoever Kind, which shall be purchased and granted under the Provisions of this Act, (whether such Life Annuities shall commence immediately or not,) and all Payments at Death, shall, in their due Course as the same shall fall due and become payable, be carried to a new and separate Account in the Books of the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt.

Life Annuitants may make further Purchases without fresh Certificates.

XIX. Whenever Proof of the Age of any Person shall have been once produced to the said Commissioners under the Provisions of any Act for the Purchase of any Annuity or Annuities on the Life of such Person, the original Proof of the Age of such Person, produced at the Time of the Purchase of the First Annuity upon the Life of such Person, shall be deemed sufficient in the Case of any proposed Purchase of a further Annuity on such Life under the Provisions of this Act, or of any other Act or Acts now in force authorizing the Grant of Annuities, without the Production of any further Proof of Age.

Amount of Annuities from Time to Time, and Sums payable on Death, to be certified to the Treasury, who shall issue their Warrant for Payment thereof.

XX. The said Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller acting under the said Commissioners shall, within Fourteen Days preceding the Fifth Day of January, the Fifth Day of April, the Fifth Day of July, and the Tenth Day of October in each and every Year, certify to the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury the Amount of Annuities for Lives, and Sums payable at Death, which will become payable under this Act out of the said Consolidated Fund on each of such Days respectively, and the said Commissioners of the Treasury shall thereupon order and direct the Comptroller General of the Exchequer to issue out of the said Consolidated Fund from Time to Time to the Account of the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt the Sums specified in such Certificates, to be applied in paying such Annuities and Sums payable at Death respectively.

Time of Payment of Annuities granted under this Act.

On Death of Annuitant a Quarter’s Payment to be made in addition to half-yearly Arrears.

Proviso as to Deferred Annuities.

XXI. All Annuities for Lives, of whatsoever Kind, which shall be purchased under the Provisions of this Act, shall be payable by Two equal half-yearly Payments, to become due respectively on the Fifth Day of January and on the Fifth Day of July, or on the Fifth Day of April and the Tenth Day of October, in each and every Year, according to the respective Periods, as herein-after mentioned, within which any Money shall be paid for the Purchase of any such Annuities for Life, of whatsoever Kind respectively; and the First half-yearly Payment of every such Annuity so purchased shall be made at the Times following; (that is to say,) on the Fifth Day of January in respect of all such Purchases completed by the actual Payment of Money into the Bank of England or into the Bank of Ireland to the Account of the said Commissioners herein-after mentioned at any Time during the Quarter ending on the Tenth Day of October preceding such Fifth Day of January; on the Fifth Day of April in respect of all such Purchases so completed at any Time during the Quarter ending on the Fifth Day of January preceding the Fifth Day of April; on the Fifth Day of July in respect of all such Purchases so completed at any Time during the Quarter ending the Fifth Day of April preceding such Fifth Day of July; and on the Tenth Day of October in respect of all such Purchases so completed at any Time during the Quarter ending on the Fifth Day of July preceding such Tenth Day of October; and all future half-yearly Payments of every such Annuity shall be made with reference to the Time of such First half-yearly Payment; and upon the Death of any Annuitant in respect of any Life Annuity a Sum equal to One Fourth Part of the Annuity depending upon the Life of such Annuitant (over and above all half-yearly Arrears thereof respectively) shall be payable to the Person or Persons entitled to such Annuity, or his or her or their Executors or Administrators, (as the Case may be,) on the half-yearly Days of Payment next succeeding the Production of Proof to the said Commissioners certifying the Death of such Annuitant, if such Proof shall be produced to the said Commissioners not less than Thirty Days next preceding the Fifth Day of January, Fifth Day of April, Fifth Day of July, and Tenth Day of October respectively in every Year, and that such last-mentioned Payment shall be claimed within Two Years after the Death of such Annuitant, but not otherwise; but the Fourth Part of any expired Life Annuity payable under the Provisions of this Act shall not be payable or be paid upon or in respect of any Deferred Life Annuity unless One half-yearly Payment of such Deferred Life Annuity shall have been actually paid or become due at the Time of the Decease of such Annuitant; and all Sums payable at Death shall become due and payable on the Fifth Day of January, Fifth Day of April, Fifth Day of July, and Tenth Day of October next immediately following the Day on which such Death shall be proved to the Satisfaction of the said Commissioners, or the Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller: Provided always, that Proof of such Death shall have been given Thirty Days previously to such Fifth Day of January, Fifth Day of April, Fifth Day of July, and Tenth Day of October, as the Case may be, and if not, then and in such Case such Payment shall not be made until the next succeeding Quarter Day.

Annuities, &c. to be paid at National Debt Office, or at Savings Banks, &c.

XXII. All Monies becoming due as aforesaid on account of such Annuities already granted or to be granted hereafter, and all Payments on Death, shall be paid to the several Parties respectively entitled thereto by the said Commissioners, at the Office of the said Commissioners, or by Savings Banks, or Parochial Societies, or other Agents specially authorized by the said Commissioners to make such Payment, under such Regulations as shall from Time to Time be issued by the said Commissioners, or the said Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller acting under them.

Contracts for Annuities not to be made for 14 Days after quarterly Day of Payment.

XXIII. For the Space of Fourteen Days next after any of the said quarterly Days for Payment of the said Annuities respectively no Contract shall be made by or on behalf of the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt for the Grant or Purchase of any Annuity or Sum payable at Death under this Act, anything herein-before contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding.

Monies paid to Commissioners on account of this Act to be invested in Bank Annuities, Annuities for Terms of Years, or Exchequer Bills.

Commissioners may reserve a Part of such Sums to repay Money claimed in case of Death, &c. of Party purchasing Annuity.

XXIV. The said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt shall cause all Monies placed to their said Accounts for the Purchase of Annuities or for securing Payments on Death, in pursuance of the Provisions of this Act or of the Acts hereby repealed, to be invested from Time to Time, under such Regulations as the said Commissioners shall direct, in the Purchase of any Bank Annuities, or Annuities for Terms of Years, or Exchequer Bills, or in either of them, and to be carried to the Accounts herein-before provided; which said Bank Annuities, Annuities for Terms of Years, and Exchequer Bills (as the Case may be) shall be forthwith cancelled, and all Interest or Dividends on such Bank Annuities, Annuities for Terms of Years, or Exchequer Bills shall cease to be charged upon or to be issued out of the Consolidated Fund from and after the Day upon which any such Bank Annuities, Annuities for Terms of Years, or Exchequer Bills shall have been purchased by the said Commissioners: Provided nevertheless, that the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt may retain and reserve from Time to Time so much of such Monies as shall be necessary for the Purpose of enabling the said Commissioners to return and pay back any Sum of Money, as herein-before directed, to such Person as shall have contracted for the Purchase of any Annuity under the Provisions of this Act, or of the Acts hereby repealed, by annual or other Payments, but who may not make good and keep up the same, and who is entitled to receive back the same, or to his, her, or their Executors or Administrators, as well as to the Executors or Administrators of such Person who may die before the Annuity which he, she, or they may have contracted for becomes payable, or for Re-purchase of any Annuity or Annuities in manner herein-after provided.

Annuities granted under this Act not assignable, except in case of Bankruptey or Insolvency.

XXV. The Right, Title, Interest, and Benefit in and to any Annuity, of whatsoever Kind, which has been purchased under any Act now in force for the Grant of Annuities through Savings Banks or Parochial Societies, or which may be purchased under the Provisions of this Act, shall not be assignable by the original Proprietor thereof so as to enable the Assignee to receive the same during the Lifetime of the said Proprietor; except in case of the Insolvency or Bankruptcy of an individual Proprietor, when the same shall become the Property of his or her Assignee or Assignees, for the Benefit of his or her Creditors; and in case of any such Bankruptcy or Insolvency the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt shall re-purchase the said Annuity according to the Value thereof, the same being computed upon the same Tables upon which the said Annuity was originally purchased; and the Receipt of the Assignee or Assignees shall be a sufficient Discharge to the said Commissioners, who shall forthwith cancel the said Annuity.

Transfer may be made by Trustees to secure Interest of Party beneficially interested

XXVI. When any Annuity for Life, immediate or deferred, shall have been purchased under the Acts hereby repealed or this Act, in the Names of more Parties than One, the said Commissioners may permit the Party or Parties not beneficially interested therein, jointly with the Party who is beneficially interested, whether such Party be of the Age of Twenty-one Years or not, to transfer the said Annuity or Annuities to other Parties, of whom the Party beneficially interested shall always be One, under such Regulations as the said Commissioners shall prescribe in that respect, for the Purpose of securing that no Assignment shall thereby be made of the Interest of the said Party to any other Person or Persons whatsoever: Provided always, that where the Party beneficially interested is incapable, from any of the Causes set forth in Section Nine of this Act, from joining in such Transfer, the said Commissioners may permit such Transfer, notwithstanding, under such Regulations as shall appear to them to be necessary to secure the Interest of the Party beneficially interested in such Annuity.

Life Annuities to be free from Taxes, &c.

XXVII. Life Annuities purchased under the Provisions of this Act shall be free from all Taxes, Charges, or Impositions whatever; and all such Annuities shall be deemed Personal Estate.

Yearly Account to be made up of unclaimed Annuities, &c.

Arrears, &c. of Three Years standing to cease to be charged on Consolidated Fund.

XXVIII. An Account shall be made up on the Fifth Day of January in every Year, by the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, of all Annuities of whatsoever Kind granted in pursuance of any of the Acts hereby repealed or under this Act which shall have remained unclaimed for the Space of Three Years then next preceding, and all such Annuities so remaining unclaimed, together with the unclaimed half-yearly Arrears thereof, and also all such Annuities of whatsoever Kind which shall have expired; and all half-yearly Arrears thereof shall cease to be charged upon and shall not be issued or issuable out of the said Consolidated Fund from and after the Day upon which such Annuities shall have remained so unclaimed or shall have expired; but nothing in this Act contained shall extend to defeat or prejudice the Rights of any Persons entitled to such unclaimed Annuities who shall at any subsequent Period give Proof of their Title to such Annuities to the Satisfaction of the said Commissioners, or the said Comptroller General.

Registers, Receipts, &c. exempt from Stamp Duty.

XXIX. No Stamp Duty whatever shall be paid or payable upon or in respect of any Copy of any Register of Birth or Baptism or Marriage or Burial, or upon or in respect of any Certificate or Declaration to be made or taken in pursuance of this Act, or any Certificate or other Instrument whatsoever respecting the Payment of Money for the Purchase of any Annuity or Sum payable at Death under this Act, or any Power of Attorney authorizing the Receipt or any Receipt for the Payment of any such Annuity or any Part thereof, or for the Payment of any Sum of Money payable at Death.

If Certificate or Declaration contain any untrue Statement of Age, &c. the Money paid to be forfeited, and Right to Annuity to cease.

XXX. If any Certificate or Declaration shall be produced to the Officer of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt which shall contain any untrue Statement of the Age of any Person to whom an Annuity has been granted under this Act, or of any Person who has contracted for a Sum payable at Death, with Intent to obtain an Annuity on the Continuance of the Life of any Person under the Age of Ten Years, or to obtain any higher Rate or Amount of Annuity or any Payment on Death greater than would or might be allowed under the Provisions of this Act, according to the true Age of such Person, then and in every such Case all Money which may have been paid for or on account of the Purchase of such Annuity or Payment on Death shall be forfeited to the said Commissioners, and all Right and Title to any Annuity or to any Payment on Death which would or might otherwise have been payable in respect thereof shall cease and determine.

Persons forging Register, Certificate, Transfers, &c. liable to Punishment for Forgery.

XXXI. If any Person or Persons shall forge, counterfeit, or alter, or shall cause or procure to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, or shall knowingly or wilfully act or assist in the forging, counterfeiting, or altering, any Register or Registers of Birth or Baptism or Death or Burial required under the Provisions of this Act, or any Copy or Certificate of any such Register, or the Name or Names of any Witness or Witnesses to any such Certificate, or any Declaration required to be taken for any of the Purposes of this Act, or any Certificate of any Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, or of any Officer acting under the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, of any such Declaration having been taken before him, or any Certificate of any Governor, or Person acting as such, or Minister, or Consul, or Chief Magistrate of any Province, Town, or Place, or other Person authorized by this Act to grant any Certificate of the Life or Death of any Annuitant; or shall forge, counterfeit, or alter, or shall cause or procure to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, or shall knowingly or wilfully act or assist in the forging, counterfeiting, or altering, any Certificate or Certificates of any Officer of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, or of any Cashier or Clerk of the Bank of England or Bank of Ireland, or the Name or Names of any Person or Persons in or to any Certificate or other Instrument for the Payment of Money for the Purchase of any Annuity, or Sum payable at Death, under the Provisions of this Act, or in or to any Receipt or Discharge for any such Annuity, or in or to any Receipt or Discharge for any Payment or Payments due or to become due thereon, or for any Sum payable at Death, under the Provisions of this Act, or authorizing or purporting to authorize the Receipt of any Life Annuity, or any Annuity for Years, of whatsoever Kind, or Sum payable at Death, granted under this Act, or under either of the Acts hereby repealed, or any Payment or Payments due or to become due thereon; or if any Person or Persons shall wilfully, falsely, and deceitfully personate any true and real Annuitant, or shall wilfully utter, or deliver or produce to any Person or Persons acting under the Authority of this Act, any such forged Register or Copy of Register, or any such forged Certificate or Declaration, knowing the same to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, with Intent to defraud Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, or with Intent to defraud any Person or Persons whomsoever; then and in every such Case all and every Persons and Person so offending, and being duly convicted thereof, shall be and is hereby declared to be subject and liable to such Pains and Penalties as by any Laws in force any Persons convicted of Forgery are subject and liable to.

Penalty on Persons guilty of Perjury.

XXXII. If any Person in any Declaration to be made before any Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, or before any Officer acting under the said Commissioners, under the Provisions of this Act, shall wilfully or corruptly declare to any Matter or Thing which shall be false or untrue, every such Person so offending, and being duly convicted thereof, shall be and is hereby declared to be subject and liable to such Pains and Penalties as by any Laws in force any Persons convicted of wilful and corrupt Perjury are subject and liable to.

Penalty on receiving Annuity after Death of Nominee, treble the Amount received.

XXXIII. If any Person or Persons shall for his, her, or their own Use, or for the Use of any other Person or Persons, receive any One or more Payment or Payments (otherwise than as authorized by this Act) upon or in respect of any Annuity granted under the Provisions of this Act or of the Acts hereby repealed, after the Death of any Annuitant on the Continuance of whose Life such Annuity was payable, or after the Death of either Annuitant, in case the Annuity shall have been granted upon the joint Continuance of the Lives of Two joint Annuitants, and after and beyond the Time on which such Annuity ought wholly to cease in consequence of the Death of such Annuitant, by virtue of this Act or the Acts hereby repealed, knowing such Annuitant to be dead, and contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, every Person so offending shall forfeit to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, treble the Amount of all Money so received.

Recovery and Application of Penalties.

Power to cause Reward to be paid to Informers.

XXXIV. All pecuniary Penalties and Forfeitures imposed by this Act shall be recoverable (if incurred in England) in the Name of Her Majesty’s Attorney General, on the Part of Her Majesty, by Information in the Court of Exchequer at Westminster, or (if incurred in Ireland) in the Name of Her Majesty’s Attorney General in the Court of Exchequer at Dublin, or (if incurred in Scotland) in the Name of Her Majesty’s Advocate General in the Court of Exchequer in Edinburgh; and such Penalty and Forfeiture shall be payable and paid to the said Commissioners, and shall go and belong to and shall become Part of the Consolidated Fund; and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to cause such Reward as they shall think fit, not exceeding One Moiety of any such Penalty or Forfeiture so recovered, after deducting all Charges and Expenses incurred in recovering the same, to be paid to any Person or Persons who shall appear to them to be entitled thereto as Informer or Informers in respect of such Penalty or Forfeiture so recovered.

Provision for defraying Expenses attending the Execution of this Act.

XXXV. The Lord High Treasurer or the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury may order and direct to be issued and paid, out of the Fund upon which the Establishment of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt is chargeable, any Sum or Sums of Money for the Payment of Salaries to Officers and Clerks, and for any incidental Expenses incurred by the said Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt in carrying into execution this Act, in such Manner as the said Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners of the Treasury shall from Time to Time think fit and reasonable.

Account to be laid annually before Parliament of Annuities granted, and of Money paid for Annuities.

XXXVI. There shall be prepared and annually laid before both Houses of Parliament on or before the Twenty-fifth Day of April in every Year, if Parliament shall be then sitting, and if Parliament shall not be then sitting, then within Fourteen Days after the Commencement of the then next Session of Parliament, an Account, made up by the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to the Fifth Day of January preceding, of the gross Amount of all Sums of Money paid to the said Commissioners, and the gross Amount of Annuities for Lives which shall have been granted for the same, and Contracts for Payment at Death which may have been made, under the Provisions of this Act, within the Year ending on the Fifth Day of January as aforesaid.

Powers of Attorney granted under recited Acts to be available under this Act.

XXXVII. All Powers of Attorney which shall have been granted for the Purpose of receiving any Annuity purchased under the said recited Acts or either of them, and which shall be in force on the Tenth Day of October One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, shall continue of like Validity with respect to any Payment on account of such Annuities to be thereafter made by the said Commissioners under the Authority of this Act so long as such Powers of Attorney shall continue in force.