Succession Duty Act, 1853

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SUCCESSION DUTY ACT 1853

CHAPTER LI.

An Act for granting to Her Majesty Duties on Succession to Property, and for altering certain Provisions of the Acts charging Duties on Legacies and Shares of Personal Estates.[¹] [4th August 1853.]

[Preamble.]

Interpretation of terms.

1. In the construction and for the purposes of this Act,

The term “real property” shall include all freehold, copyhold, customary, leasehold, and other hereditaments, and heritable property, whether corporeal or incorporeal, in Great Britain and Ireland, except money secured on heritable property in Scotland, and all estates in any such hereditaments:

The term “personal property” shall not include leaseholds, but shall include money payable under any engagement, and money secured on heritable property in Scotland, and all other property not comprised in the preceding definition of real property:

The term “property” alone shall include real property and personal property:

The term, “succession” shall denote any property chargeable with duty under this Act:

The term “trustee” shall include an executor and administrator, and any person having or taking on himself the administration of property affected by any express or implied trust:

The term “person” shall include a body corporate, company, and society:

The term “Legacy Duty Acts” shall denote the Acts now in force for charging duties on legacies and shares of the personal estates of deceased persons.

What dispositions and devolutions of property shall confer successions.

Definition of the terms “successor,” predecessor.”

2. Every past or future disposition of property, by reason whereof any person has or shall become beneficially entitled to any property or the income thereof upon the death of any person dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, either immediately or after any interval, either certainly or contingently, and either originally or by way of substitutive limitation, and every devolution by law of any beneficial interest in property, or the income thereof, upon the death of any person dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, to any other person, in possession or expectancy, shall be deemed to have conferred or to confer on the person entitled by reason of any such disposition or devolution a “succession”; and the term “successor” shall denote the person so entitled; and the term “predecessor” shall denote the settlor, disponer, testator, obligor, ancestor, or other person from whom the interest of the successor is or shall be derived.

Joint tenants taking by survivorship to be deemed successors,

3. Where any person shall, at or after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, have any property vested in them jointly, by any title not conferring on them a succession, any beneficial interest in such property accruing to any of them by survivorship shall be deemed to be a succession; and every person to whom any such interest shall accrue shall be deemed to be the successor; and the person upon whose death such accruer shall take place shall be deemed to be the predecessor; and where any persons after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act shall take any succession jointly, they shall pay the duty, if any, chargeable thereon by this Act in proportion to their respective interests in the succession; and any beneficial interest in such succession, accruing to any, of them by survivorship, shall be deemed to be a new succession, derived from the predecessor from whom the joint title shall have been derived.

General powers of appointment to confer successions.

4. Where any person shall have a general power of appointment under any disposition of property taking effect upon the death of any person dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, over property, be shall, in the event of his making any appointment thereunder, be deemed to be entitled, at the time of his exercising such power, to the property or interest thereby appointed as a succession derived from the donor of the power; and where any person shall have a limited power of appointment, under a disposition taking effect, upon any such death, over property, any person taking any property by the exercise of such power shall be deemed to take the same as a succession derived from the person creating the power as predecessor.

Extinction of determinable charges to confer successions.

5. Where any property shall at or after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act be subject to any charge, estate, or interest, determinable by the death of any person, or at any period ascertainable only by reference to death, the increase of benefit accruing to any person or persons upon the extinction or determination of such charge, estate, or interest, shall be deemed to be a succession acruing to the person, or the persons if more than one, then entitled beneficially to the property or the income thereof, according to his or their respective estates or interests therein, or beneficial enjoyment thereof; and the person or persons from whom such successor or successors respectively shall have derived title to the property so charged shall be deemed to be the predecessor or predecessors, as the case may be.

Persons now beneficially entitled to real property subject to leases for life, not liable to duty.

6. Provided that no person entitled, at the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, to the immediate reversion in any real property expectant upon the determination of any lease for life or for years determinable on life, shall be chargeable with duty in respect of such determination, in the event of the same occurring in his lifetime.

Dispositions accompanied by the reservation of a benefit to the grantor, &c. to confer successions.

7. Where any disposition of property, not being a bonâ fide sale, and not conferring an interest expectant on death on the person in whose favour the same shall be made, shall be accompanied by the reservation or assurance of or contract for any benefit to the grantor, or any other person, for any term of life or for any period ascertainable only by reference to death, such disposition shall be deemed to confer at the time appointed for the determination of such benefit an increase of beneficial interest in such property, as a succession equal in annual value to the yearly amount or yearly value of the benefit so reserved, assured, or contracted for, on the person in whose favour such disposition shall be made.

Dispositions to take effect periods depending on death or made for evading duty, to confer successions.

8. Where any disposition of property shall be made to take effect at a period ascertainable only by reference to the date of the death of any person dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, such disposition shall be deemed to confer a succession on the person in whose favour the same shall be made; and where any disposition of property shall purport to take effect presently, or under such circumstances as not to confer a succession, but by the effect or in consequence of any engagement, secret trust, or arrangement capable of being enforced in a court of law or equity, the beneficial ownership of such property shall not bonâ fide pass according to such disposition, but shall in fact devolve to any person on death, or at some period ascertainable only by reference to death, then such last-mentioned person shall be deemed to acquire the property so passing as a succession derived from the person making the disposition as the predecessor; and where any court of competent jurisdiction shall declare any disposition to have been fraudulent and made for the purpose of evading the duty imposed by this Act, it shall be lawful for such court to declare a succession to have been conferred on such person at such time and to such an extent as such court shall think just; and such last-mentioned person shall be deemed to have taken a succession accordingly derived from the person making such disposition as predecessor.

Duties to be deemed stamp duties, and to be under the management of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.

12 & 13 Vict. c. 1.

9. The duties herein-after imposed shall be considered as stamp duties, and shall be under the care and management of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, herein-after called “The Commissioners”; who, by themselves and their officers, shall have the same powers and authorities for the collection, recovery, and management thereof, as are by an Act passed in the session holden in the twelfth and thirteenth years of the reign of her present Majesty, chapter one, or by any other Act or Acts, vested in them for the collection, recovery, and management of any stamp duties; and shall provide proper stamps for denoting the rate per centum of the duties payable under this Act; and shall have all other powers and authorities requisite for carrying this Act into execution.

Duties on successions.

10. There shall be levied and paid to her Majesty in respect of every such succession as aforesaid, according to the value thereof, the following duties; (that is to say,)

Where the successor shall be the lineal issue or lineal ancestor of the predecessor, a duty at the rate of one pound per centum upon such value:

Where the successor shall be a brother or sister, or a descendant of a brother or sister of the predecessor, a duty at the rate of three pounds per centum upon such value:

Where the successor shall be a brother or sister of the father or mother, or a descendant of a brother or sister of the father or mother of the predecessor, a duty at the rate of five pounds per centum upon such value:

Where the successor shall be a brother or sister of the grandfather or grandmother, or a descendant of the brother or sister of the grandfather or grandmother of the predecessor, a duty at the rate of six pounds per centum upon such value:

Where the successor shall be in any other degree of collateral consanguinity to the predecessor than is herein-before described, or shall be a stranger in blood to him, a duty at the rate of ten pounds per centum upon such value.

Provision as to married persons chargeable with succession or legacy duties.

11. Where any person chargeable with duty under this Act in respect of any succession, or chargeable with duty under the Legacy Duty Acts in respect of any legacy bequeathed to him or her by a testator dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, or in respect of the personal estate of any person dying after the same period, shall have been married to any wife or husband of nearer consanguinity than himself or herself to the predecessor, testator, or deceased person, then the person taking such succession, legacy, or personal estate shall pay in respect thereof the same rate of duty only as such his or her wife or husband would have been chargeable with if she or he had taken the same.

In what cases duty shall be payable when the successor is also the predecessor.

12. Where any person shall take a succession under a disposition made by himself, then, if at the date of such disposition he shall have been entitled to the property comprised in the succession expectantly on the death of any person dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, and such person shall have died during the continuance of such disposition, he shall be chargeable with duty on his succession, at the same rate as he would have been chargeable with if no such disposition had been made; but a successor shall not in any other case be chargeable with duty upon a succession taken under a disposition made by himself; and no person shall be chargeable with duty upon the extinction or determination of any charge, estate, or interest created by himself, unless at the date of the creation thereof he shall have been entitled to the property subjected thereto expectantly on the death of some person dying after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act.

Provision as to joint predecessors.

13. Where the successor shall derive his succession from more predecessors than one, and the proportional interest derived from each of them shall not be distinguishable, it shall be lawful for the commissioners to agree with the successor as to the duty payable; but if no such agreement shall be made, the successor shall be deemed to have derived his succession in equal proportions from each predecessor, and shall be chargeable with duty accordingly.

Duty on transmitted successions.

14. Where the interest of any successor in any personal property shall, before he shall have become entitled thereto in possession, have passed by reason of death to any other successor or successors, then one duty only shall be paid in respect of such interest, and shall be due from the successor who shall first become entitled thereto in possession; but such duty shall be at the highest rate which, if every such successor had been subject to duty, would have been payable by any one of them.

Duties payable in respect of transfered interests.

Payment of duty in case of acceleration of the succession.

15. Where, at the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, any reversionary property expectant on death shall be vested, by alienation or other derivative title, in any person other than the person who shall have been originally entitled thereto under any such disposition or devolution as is mentioned in the second section of this Act, then the person in whom such property shall be so vested shall be chargeable with duty in respect thereof as a succession at the same time and at the same rate as the person so originally entitled would have been chargeable with if no such alienation had been made or derivative title created; and where, after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, any succession shall, before the successor shall have become entitled thereto or to the income thereof in possession, have become vested by alienation or by any title not conferring a new succession in any other person then the duty payable in respect thereof shall be paid at the same rate and time as the same would have been payable if no such alienation had been made or derivative title created; and where the title to any succession shall be accelerated by the surrender or extinction of any prior interests, then the duty thereon shall be payable at the same time and in the same manner as such duty would have been payable if no such acceleration had taken place.

Succession subject to trusts for charitable or public purposes chargeable with duty.

16. Where property shall become subject to a trust for any charitable or public purposes, under any past or future disposition, which, if made in favour of an individual, would confer on him a succession, there shall be payable in respect of such property, upon its becoming subject to such trusts, a duty at the rate of ten pounds per centum upon the amount or principal value of such property; and it shall be lawful for the trustee of any such property to raise the amount of any duty due in respect thereof, with all reasonable expenses, upon the security of the charity property, at interest, with power for him to give effectual discharges for the money so raised.

Provision as to life polices and certain post obit bonds.

17. No policy of insurance on the life of any person shall create the relation of predecessor and successor between the insurers and the assured, or between the insurers and any assignee of the assured; and no bond or contract made by any person bonâ fide for valuable consideration in money or money's worth, for the payment of money or money's worth after the death of any other person, shall create the relation of predecessor and successor between the person making such bond or contract and the person to or with whom the same shall be made; but any disposition or devolution of the monies payable under such policy, bond, or contract, if otherwise such as in itself to create a succession within the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed to confer a succession.

Exemptions.

18. Where the whole succession or successions derived from the same predecessor and passing upon any death to any person or persons shall not amount in money or principal value to the sum of one hundred pounds, no duty shall be payable under this Act in respect thereof or of any portion thereof; and no duty shall be payable under this Act upon any succession, which, as estimated according to the provisions of this Act, shall be of less value than twenty pounds in the whole, or upon any monies applied to the payment of the duty on any succession according to any trust for that purpose, or by any person in respect of a succession, who, if the same were a legacy bequeathed to him by the predecessor, would be exempted from the payment of duty in respect thereof under the Legacy Duty Acts; and no person shall be charged with duty under this Act in respect of any interest surrendered by him or extinguished before the time appointed for the commencement of this Act; and no person charged with the duties on legacies and shares of personal estate under the Legacy Duty Acts, in respect of any property subject to such duties, shall be charged also with the duty granted by this Act in respect of the same acquisition of the same property.

Leasehold estates not to be charged with legacy duty as personal estate.

19. No legatee or other person shall, after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act, be chargeable under the Legacy Duty Acts with duty, not then already due, in respect of any leasehold hereditaments of any testator or deceased person, as belonging to the personal estate of the testator or deceased.

Duties to be paid on the successor becoming entitled in possession; but in the case of outstanding interests, on the determination thereof.

Payment of duties on annuities, &c.

Saving as to leases at rackrent.

20. The duty imposed by this Act shall be paid at the time when the successor, or any person in his right or on his behalf, shall become entitled in possession to his succession, or to the receipt of the income and profits thereof; except that if there shall be any prior charge, estate, or interest, not created by the successor himself, upon or in the succession, by reason whereof the successor shall not be presently entitled to the full enjoyment or value thereof, the duty in respect of the increased value accruing upon the determination of such charge, estate, or interest shall, if not previously paid, compounded for, or commuted, be paid at the time of such determination; and except that in case of an annuity, or property hereby made chargeable as an annuity, the duties shall be paid by such instalments as are herein-after directed or referred to; provided that no duty shall be payable upon the determination of any lease purporting at the date thereof to be a lease at rackrent, in respect of the increase accruing to the successor upon such determination.

The interest of a successor in real property to be considered as an annuity. &c.

Duty to be paid by 8 half-yearly instalments.

Proviso as to death of successor before all instalments have become due.

21. The interest of every successor, except as herein provided, in real property, shall be considered to be of the value of an annuity equal to the annual value of such property, after making such allowances as are herein-after directed, and payable from the date of his becoming entitled thereto in possession, or to the receipt of the income or profits thereof during the residue of his life, or for any less period during which he shall be entitled thereto; and every such annuity, for the purposes of this Act, shall be valued according to the tables in the schedule annexed to this Act; and the duty chargeable thereon shall be paid by eight equal half-yearly instalments, the first of such instalments to be paid at the expiration of twelve months next after the successor shall have become entitled to the beneficial enjoyment of the real property in respect whereof the same shall be payable, and the seven following instalments at half-yearly intervals of six months each, to be computed from the day on which the first instalment shall have become due; provided that if the successor shall die before all such instalments shall have become due, then any instalments not due at his decease shall cease to be payable, except in the case of a successor who shall have been competent to dispose by will of a continuing interest in such property, in which case the instalments unpaid at his death shall be a continuing charge on such interest in exoneration of his other property, and shall be payable by the owner for the time being of such interest.

Outgoings to be allowed in valuing lands, houses, &c.

22. In estimating the annual value of lands used for agricultural purposes, houses, buildings, tithes, teinds, rentcharges, and other property yielding or capable of yielding income not of a fluctuating character, an allowance shall be made of all necessary outgoings.

Mode of charging duty on timber.

23. Where timber, trees, or wood, not being coppice of underwood, shall be comprised in any succession, the successor shall be chargeable with duty upon his interest in the net monies, after deducting all necessary outgoings for the year, which shall from time to time be received from any sales of such timber, trees, or wood, and shall account for and pay the same yearly; provided that no duty shall be payable on the net monies received from the sale of timber, trees or wood in any one year unless such net monies shall exceed the sum of ten pounds; provided, that if the successor shall be desirous of commuting the duty, and shall deliver to the commissoners an estimate of the net monies obtainable by him from the sale of such timber, trees, and wood as may, in a prudent course of management of the property, be felled by such successor during his life, the commissioners, if satisfied with such estimate, shall accept the same and assess the duty accordingly.

Charge of duty in respect of advowsons.

24. A successor shall not be chargeable with duty in respect of any advowson or church patronage comprised in his succession, unless the same, or some right of presentation, or some other interest in or out of such advowson or church patronage, shall be disposed of by or in concert with him for money or money's worth, in which case he shall be chargeable with duty upon the amount or value of the money or money's worth for which the same, or any such presentation or interest, shall be so disposed of at the time of such disposal.

Charge of duty on property subject to beneficial leases.

25. Where a successor, entitled to any real property subject to any lease by reason whereof he shall not be presently entitled to the full enjoyment thereof, shall not have paid duty in respect of the full yearly value of such property, he shall be chargeable with duty upon his interest in any fine or grassum or other consideration which may be received during his life for the renewal of any such lease, or the grant of any reversionary lease of the same property.

Mode of valuing manors, mines, &c.

26. The yearly value of any manor, opened mine, or other real property of a fluctuating yearly income shall either be calculated upon the average profits or income derived therefrom, after deducting all necessary outgoings, during such a number of preceding years as shall be agreed upon for this purpose between the commissioners and the successor, before the first payment of duty on the succession shall have become due; or if no such period shall be agreed upon, then the principal value of such property shall be ascertained, and the annual value thereof shall be considered to be equal to interest calculated at the rate of three pounds per centum per annum on the amount of such principal value.

Duty payable by corporations, &c. taking real estate.

27. Where any body corporate, company, or society shall become entitled, as successors, to any real property, the duty in respect thereof shall be assessed upon the principal value of such property, but shall be payable by such instalments, at such times, and in such manner as the same would be payable if assessed in respect of property devolving on a successor in fee simple; and it shall be lawful for such body corporate, company, or society, or any trustee thereof, to raise the amount of any duty due in respect of their succession upon the security thereof, at interest, with power for them to give effectual discharges for the money so raised.

Allowance for fines, &c. payable by successor.

28. If a successor, or any person on his behalf, upon becoming entitled to any copyhold or other real property, shall be subject to any fines, casualties of superiority, compositions, reliefs, or charges incident to the tenure thereof, and due in respect of his succession, he shall be entitled to have a deduction allowed to him of the amount of such fines, casualties, compositions, reliefs, or charges from the assessable value of his interest in such copyhold or other real property.

Real property directed to be sold to be charged as personalty; except where proceeds are subject to reinvestment.

29. The interest of any successor in monies to arise from the sale of real property under any trust for the sale thereof, so far as the same shall not be chargeable with duty under the Legacy Duty Acts, shall be deemed to be personal property chargeable with duty under this Act; provided that where such monies shall be subject to any trust for the re-investment thereof in the purchase of other real property, to which the successor would not be absolutely entitled, such monies shall be deemed to be real property; and for the purpose of this Act each successor's interest therein shall be considered to be of the value of an annuity, payable during his life, or for any less period during which he shall be entitled, equal in amount to the annual produce of the actual trust property at the time of his becoming entitled by possession, whether the same shall then be the real property subject to the trust or direction for sale, or any property purchased in substitution for it, or any intermediate investment of the produce of the sale of the original property.

Personal property subject to be invested in real property, how to be charged.

30. The interest of any successor in personal property subject to any trust for the investment thereof in the purchase of real property to which the successor would be absolutely entitled shall, so far as the same shall not be chargeable with duty under the Legacy Duty Acts, be chargeable with duty under this Act as personal property; and personal property subject to any trust for the investment thereof in the purchase of real property to which the successor would not be absolutely entitled shall, so far as the same shall not be chargeable with duty under the Legacy Duty Acts, be chargeable with duty under this Act as real property; and for the purposes of this Act each successor's interest therein shall be considered to be of the value of an annuity, payable during his life, or for any less period during which he shall be entitled, equal in amount to the annual produce of the actual trust property at the time of his becoming entitled in possession, whether the same shall be the real property directed to be purchased, or any intermediate investment of the personal property directed to be invested in such purchase.

Annuities, &c. under this Act and the Legacy Duty Acts to be valued according to the tables in schedule. 36 Geo. 3. c. 52.

31. Where it shall be required to calculate, for the purposes either of this Act or of the Legacy Duty Acts, the value of any annuity, or of any interest chargeable with duty as an annuity, such value shall be calculated according to the tables in the schedule annexed to this Act, and not according to the tables in the schedule annexed to the Legacy Duty Act, 1796; and such annuity or interest shall be chargeable with duty accordingly.

Application of certain provisions of 36 Geo. 3. c. 52. as to the assessment of personalty to personal property comprised in any succession, &c.

32. The following provisions relating to the assessment and payment of duty on personal estate, and the exemption thereof from duty in certain cases, namely, the eighth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, fourteenth, and twenty-third sections of the Legacy Duty Act, 1796, shall be applicable to the personal property comprised in any succession, and to the assessment and payment of duty thereon, as if such personal property were a legacy bequeathed by the predecessor to the successor, and were subject to the said provisions, and as if the tables in the said Act referred to were the tables in the schedules annexed to this Act.

Allowance to donee of general power of appointment.

33. Where the donee of a general power of appointment shall become chargeable with duty in respect of the property appointed by him under such power, he shall be allowed to deduct from the duty so payable any duty he may have already paid in respect of any limited interest taken by him in such property.

What allowance to be made for incumbrances.

34. In estimating the value of a succession no allowance shall be made in respect of any, incumbrance thereon created or incurred by the successor, not made in execution of a prior special power of appointment, but an allowance shall be made in respect of all other incumbrances, and also in respect of any monies which the successor may previously to his possession have laid out in the substantial repairs or permanent improvement of real property comprised in his succession; provided that upon any successor becoming entitled to real property subject to any prior principal charge, an allowance shall be made to him in respect only of the yearly sums payable by way of interest or otherwise on such charge as reducing the annual value pro tanto of such real property.

No allowance to be made in respect of contingent incumbrances, unless they take effect.

35. In estimating the value of a succession no allowance shall be made in respect of any contingent incumbrance thereon; but in the event of such incumbrance taking effect as an actual burden on the interest of the successor, he shall be entitled to a return of a proportionate amount of the duty so paid by him in respect of the amount or value of the incumbrance when taking effect.

The duty on successions to be calculated without regard to contingencies.

36. In estimating the value of a succession no allowance shall be made in respect of any contingency upon the happening of which the property may pass to some other person; but in the event of the same so passing the successor shall be entitled to a return of so much of the duty paid by him as will reduce the same to the amount which would have been payable by him if such duty had been assessed in respect of the actual duration or extent of his interest.

Duty to be charged only on property obtained by the successor; and to be refunded, if he be afterwards deprived thereof, &c.

37. Where a successor shall not have obtained the whole of his succession at the time of the duty becoming payable, he shall be chargeable with duty on the value of the property or benefit from time to time obtained by him; and whenever any duty shall have been paid on account of any succession, and it shall afterwards be proved to the satisfaction of the commissioners that such duty, not being due from the person paying the same, was paid by mistake, or was paid in respect of property which the successor shall have been unable to recover, or from or of which he shall have been evicted or deprived by any superior title, or that for any other reason it ought to be refunded, the commissioners shall thereupon refund the same to the person entitled thereto.

Allowance to be made to successor in respect of relinquished property

38. Where any successor upon taking a succession shall be bound to relinquish or be deprived of any other property, the commissioners shall, upon the computation of the assessable value of his succession, make such allowance to him as may be just in respect of the value of such property.

Commissioners may compound duties, and enlarge the time for payment.

39. Where, in the opinion of the commissioners, any succession shall be of such a nature, or so disposed or circumstanced, that the value thereof shall not be fairly ascertainable under any of the preceding directions, or where, from the complication of circumstances affecting the value of a succession or affecting the assessment or recovery of the duty thereon, the commissioners shall think it expedient to exercise this present authority, it shall be lawful for them to compound the duty payable on the succession upon such terms as they shall think fit, and to give discharges to the successor, upon payment of duty according to such composition; and it shall be lawful for them, in any special cases in which they may think it expedient so to do, to enlarge the time for payment of any duty.

Commissioners may receive duty in advance and allow discount, &c.

40. It shall be lawful for the commissioners to receive any duty tendered to them in advance, and to allow discount thereon at the rate of four pounds per centum per annum, or at such other rate as may from time to time be directed by the Treasury; and no person, by reason of his having made any payment of duty in advance, shall be prejudiced in his right to have any repayment of duty made to him to which he may become entitled under any of the provisions of this Act.

Commissioners may commute duties presumptively payable in respect of expectant successions.

41. It shall be lawful for the commissioners, in their discretion, upon application made by any person who shall be entitled to a succession in expectancy, to commute the duty presumptively payable in respect of such succession for a certain sum to be presently paid; and for assessing the amount which shall be so payable they shall cause a present value to be set upon such presumptive duty, regard being had to the contingencies affecting the liability to such duty, and the interest of money involved in such calculation being reckoned at the rate for the time being allowed by the commissioners in respect of duties paid in advance; and upon the receipt of such certain sum they shall give discharges to the successor accordingly.

Duty to be a first charge on the interest of the successor and persons claiming under him in the property, &c.

Proviso as to settled real property subject to a power of sale, exercisable with consent of successor, &c.

42. The duty imposed by this Act shall be a first charge on the interest of the successor, and of all persons claiming in his right, in all the real property in respect whereof such duty shall be assessed; and such duty shall also be a first charge on the interest of the successor in the personal property in respect whereof the same shall be assessed, while the same shall remain in the ownership or control of the successor, or of any trustee for him, or of his guardian or committee, or tutor or curator, or of the husband of any wife who shall be the successor; and the said duty shall be a debt due to the Crown from the successor, having, in the case of real property comprised in any succession, priority over all charges and interests created by him; but such duty shall not charge or affect any other real property of the successor than the property comprised in such succession; provided, that where any settled real property comprised in a succession shall be subject to any power of sale, exchange, or partition, exercisable with the consent of the successor, or by the successor with the consent of another person, he shall not be disqualified by the charge of duty on his succession from effectually authorizing by his consent the exercise of such power, or exercising any power with proper consent, as the case may be; and in such case the duty shall be charged substitutively upon the successor's interest in all real property acquired in substitution for the real property before comprised in the succession, and in the meantime upon his interest also in all monies arising from the exercise of anysuch power, and in all investments of such monies.

Separate assessments of properties.

43. The commissioners shall, at the request of any successor, or any person claiming in his right, accept or cause to be made so many separate assessments of the duty payable in respect of the interest of the successor in any separate properties, or in defined portions of the same property, as shall be reasonably required; and in such cases the respective properties shall be chargeable only with the amount of duty separately assessed in respect thereof; and it shall be lawful also for the commissioners, by their certificates, to be issued in such form as they shall think fit, from time to time to declare that any duties already assessed, whether collectively or distributively, in respect of any succession, shall thenceforth be charged, as to any unpaid instalments, according to any further distribution thereof, upon separate parts only of the property in respect of which such assessment shall have been made, in which case the charge of such duties shall be thenceforth limited according to such further distribution.

What persons accountable for duty.

Such persons may compound duties, &c.

44. The following persons, besides the successor, shall be personally accountable to her Majesty for the duty payable in respect of any succession, but to the extent only of the property or funds actually received or disposed of by them respectively after the time appointed for the commencement of this Act; that is to say, every trustee, guardian, committee, tutor, or curator, or husband, in whom respectively any property, or the management of any property, subject to such duty, shall be vested, and every person in whom the same shall be vested by alienation or other derivative title at the time of the succession becoming an interest in possession; and all such trustees, guardians, committees, tutors, curators, husbands, and persons shall be authorized to compound or pay in advance or commute any duty, and retain out of the property subject to any such duty the amount thereof, or to raise such amount, and the expenses incident thereto, at interest on the security of such property, with power to give effectual discharges for the same; and such security shall have priority over any charge or incumbrance created by the successor; and in the event of the nonpayment of such duty as aforesaid every person hereby made accountable shall be a debtor to her Majesty in the amount of the unpaid duty for which he shall be so accountable.

Notice of succession to be given to the commissioners, and an account of the property delivered.

45. The persons hereby made accountable for the payment of duty in respect of any succession, or some of them, shall, in the case of personal property, at the time of the first payment, delivery, retainer, satisfaction, or other discharge of the same or any part thereof to or for the successor or any person in his right, and, in the case of real property, when any duty in respect thereof shall first become payable, give notice to the commissioners or to their officers of their liability to such duty, and shall at the same time deliver to the commissioners or to their officers a full and true account of the property for the duty whereon they shall respectively be accountable, and of the value thereof, and of the deductions claimed by them, together with the names of the successor and predecessor, and their relation to each other, and all such other particulars as shall be necessary or proper for enabling the commissioners fully and correctly to ascertain the duties due; and the commissioners, if satisfied with such account and estimate as originally delivered, or with any amendments that may be made therein upon their requisition, may assess the succession duty on the footing of such account and estimate; but it shall be lawful for the commissioners, if dissatisfied with such account and estimate, to cause an account and estimate to be taken by any person or persons to be appointed by themselves for that purpose, and to assess the duty on the footing of such last-mentioned account and estimate, subject to appeal as herein-after provided; and if the duty so assessed shall exceed the duty assessable according to the return made to the commissioners, and with which they shall have been dissatisfied, and if there shall be no appeal against such assessment, then it shall be in the discretion of the commissioners, having regard to the merits of each case, to charge the whole or any part of the expenses incident to the taking of such last-mentioned account and estimate on, the interest of the successor in respect whereof the duty shall be due, in increase of such duty, and to recover the same forthwith accordingly; and if there shall be an appeal against such last-mentioned assessment, then the payment of such expenses shall be in the discretion of the Court of Appeal herein-after appointed.

Penalty on not giving notice of succession, &c.

Penalty for neglect to pay duty.

46. If any person required to give any such notice or deliver such account as aforesaid shall wilfully neglect to do so at the prescribed period, he shall be liable to pay to her Majesty a sum equal to ten pounds per centum upon the amount of duty payable by him, or, in the case of a succession chargeable with a higher rate of duty than one pound per centum upon the value thereof, upon such less sum as such duty, if assessable at the rate of one pound per centum upon the value of the succession, would amount to, and a like penalty for every month after the first month during which such neglect shall continue; and if any person liable under this Act to pay any duty shall, after such duty shall have been finally ascertained, wilfully neglect to do so within twenty-one days, he shall also be liable to pay to her Majesty a sum equal to ten pounds per centum upon the amount of duty so unpaid, or upon such less sum as such duty, if assessable at the rate of one pound per centum on the value of the succession, would amount to, and a like penalty for every month after the first month during which such neglect shall continue.

Proceedings if account be not delivered.

47. [¹] If any accountable party required by the commissioners to deliver any such account as aforesaid shall make default in doing so, it shall be lawful for the commissioners to sue, out of her Majesty's Court of Exchequer in England, Scotland, or Ireland, as they shall think expedient, according to the circumstances of the case, and for such court to issue, a writ of summons in such form as the judges of such court shall from time to time frame, commanding the party so in default to deliver such account within such period as may be appointed in the writ, or to show cause to the contrary; and on cause being shown such order shall be made as shall be just.

Power on enforce accounts from executors, &c. for the purposes of the Legacy Duty Acts.

48. [¹] The commissioners shall for the purposes of the Legacy Duty Acts be empowered to require and enforce the delivery of accounts from executors, administrators, and trustees of property and legatees chargeable with duty under such Acts, and for the duty whereon they shall be accountable, in the same manner as they are by the last preceding section of this Act empowered to require and enforce the delivery of accounts for the purposes of this Act.

Accounting party shall verify his account by production of books and documents; and commissioners may, without fee, inspect and take copies of public books.

49. Every person who under the provisions of this Act may deliver any account or estimate of the property comprised in any succession shall, if required by the commissioners, produce before them such books and documents in the custody or control of such person, so far as the same relate to such account or estimate, as may be capable of affording any necessary information for the purpose of ascertaining such property and the duty payable thereon; and the commissioners may, without payment of any fee, inspect and take copies of any public book; but all such information shall be deemed to be confidential, and the commissioners shall not disclose the same, or the contents of any document or book, to any person, otherwise than for the purposes of this Act.

Power for accountable party to appeal.

50. It shall be lawful for any accountable party dissatisfied with the assessment of the commissioners, upon giving, within twenty-one days after the date of such assessment, notice in writing to the commissioners of his intention to appeal against such assessment, and a statement of the grounds of such appeal, such statement to be furnished within the further period of thirty days, to appeal by petition accordingly to her Majesty's Court of Exchequer in England, Scotland, or Ireland, according to the place in which the appellant shall be resident; and every such court, or any judge thereof sitting in chambers, shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter of such appeal and the costs thereof, with power to direct, for the purposes of such appeal, any inquiry, valuation, or report to be made by any officer of the court, or other person, as such court or judge may think fit: Provided, that where the sum in dispute in respect of duty on such assessment does not exceed fifty pounds, the accountable party may, having given notice of appeal and delivered a statement of the grounds thereof as herein-before directed, appeal to the judge of the County Court in England, the Sheriff Court in Scotland, or the Assistant Barrister's Court in Ireland, for the district, county, or division in which the appellant shall be resident, or the property be situate; and every such judge shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter of such last-mentioned appeal, with the like power and authority as are by this section given to a judge of her Majesty's Court of Exchequer.

Duty to be entered by the commissioners in a book, and a stamped receipt to be given.

51. Whenever any payment of duty shall be made under this Act, the same shall be entered in a, book to be kept by the commissioners for this purpose; and the Receiver General of Inland Revenue, or other proper officer appointed by the commissioners, shall give a receipt for the same in such form as they shall think fit, and stamped with the proper stamp for denoting the rate of duty; and the commissioners shall from time to time deliver to any person interested in any property affected by such duty, on applying for the same for any reasonable purpose approved by the commissioners, a certificate, in such form as they may think fit, of such payment.

Protection to bonâ fide purchasers.

52. Every receipt and certificate, purporting to be in discharge of the whole duty payable for the time being in respect of any succession or any part thereof, shall exonerate a bonâ fide purchaser for valuable consideration, and without notice, from such duty, notwithstanding any suppression or mis-statement in the account upon the footing whereof the same may have been assessed, or any insufficiency of such assessment; and no bonâ fide purchaser of property for valuable consideration under a title not appearing to confer a succession shall be subject to any duty with which such property may be chargeable under the provisions of this Act, by reason of any extrinsic circumstances of which he shall not have had notice at the time of such purchase.

Court is suits for the administration of property to provide payment of duty.

53. Whenever any suit shall be pending in any court for the administration of any property chargeable with duty under this Act or the Legacy Duty Acts, such court shall provide, out of any property which may be in the possession or control of the court, for the payment of duty to the commissioners.

Commencement of Act.

54. This Act shall be taken to have come into operation on the nineteenth day of May one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and shall take effect accordingly.

Short title.

55. This Act may be cited for all purposes as “The Succession Shoert title Duty Act, 1853.”

The SCHEDULE to which this Act refers.

Table I.

The Values of an Annuity of 100l. per Annum held on a single Life.

Table II.

The Value of an Annuity of £100 per Annum, held on the Joint Continuance of Two Lives.