On the sale of any hereditaments which are or have been subject to any charitable uses or trusts (r), there are two main points to be considered by the conveyancer advising on the title; first, whether the hereditaments were duly assured in accordance with Part II. of the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1888 (s), or the statutes now replaced by that enactment (t), to the charitable uses on which it is alleged that they are or were held; and secondly, whether any conveyance of such hereditaments agreed by the contract of sale to be made or purported to be made by any of the documents of title is or was subject to the restrictions imposed by the 29th section of the Charitable Trusts Amendment Act, 1855 (u), and if so, whether the conditions thereby imposed have been complied with. The first of these requirements must also be observed on the purchase of any hereditaments to be assured to any charitable uses. Besides which, if the title should comprise a conveyance to a corporation for charitable purposes, it must be ascertained that the same was made in conformity with the law of conveyance to a corporation into mortmain, now contained in Part I. of the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1888.

Charity lands.

By Part II. of the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1888 (x), subject to the savings and exceptions in the Act contained, and to the amendments now made (y) as stated below with respect to assurances by will, every assurance (z) of land to or for the benefit of any charitable uses shall be made in accordance with the requirements of this Act, and unless so made shall be void (a). These requirements are that the assurance must be made - (1) by deed (2) executed in the presence of at least two witnesses (3) twelve months at least before the assuror's death (b) and (4) enrolled in the Central Office of the Supreme Court within six months after the execution thereof; and (5) must be made to take effect in possession for the charitable use intended immediately from the making thereof, and (6) must, except as in the Act provided (c), be without any power of revocation, reservation, condition or provision for the benefit of the assuror or any person claiming under him. The first and second of these requirements do not apply to assurances of land of copyhold or customary tenure (d). The third requirement, whereby any assurance of land to any charitable uses may become void by reason of the assuror's death within a year after the execution thereof, is not imposed on assurances of land made in good faith for full and valuable consideration; and this is equally the case whether such consideration be actually paid upon or before the making of the assurance, or be reserved or made payable to the vendor or any other person by way of rent, rent-charge or other annual payment in perpetuity, or for any term of years or other period, with or without a right of re-entry for non-payment thereof, or partly paid and partly reserved as aforesaid (e). Any assurance of land, which is by the Act required to be made by deed, may be made by a registered disposition under the provisions of the Land Transfer Acts, 1875 and 1897, and if so made shall be exempt from the requirements of the Act of 1888 as to execution in the presence of witnesses and as to enrolment (f). And enrolment is not required of an assurance of land to or for the benefit of any charitable uses, if those uses are declared by a separate instrument, but in such case that separate instrument must be enrolled in the Central Office within six months after the making of the assurance of the land (g). Where any such assurance or instrument has not been duty enrolled within the requisite time, the High Court of Justice, or the officer having control over the enrolment of deeds in the Central Office, is empowered to order or cause the same to be subsequently enrolled; but this power is only exercisable where the Court or officer is satisfied, first, that the omission to enrol in proper time has arisen from ignorance or inadvertence, or through the destruction or loss of the document (h); and, secondly, that the assurance was of a nature to be validated under the enabling enactment in that behalf. This provides that if the assurance to be validated was made in good faith and for full and valuable consideration, and was made to take effect in possession immediately from the making thereof without any power of revocation, reservation, condition, or provision, except such as is authorised by the Act (i), and if, at the time of the application for enrolment, possession or enjoyment was held under the assurance, then such subsequent enrolment shall have the same effect as if it had been made within the requisite time; but such subsequent enrolment shall not give any validity to the assurance if at the time of such application any proceeding for setting aside the assurance or for asserting any right founded on the invalidity of the assurance is pending, or any decree or judgment founded on such invalidity has been obtained (k). Where an assurance of land to any charitable uses has not been executed in the presence of two witnesses, or has otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of the Act, except only in respect of want of due enrolment, there is no power subsequently to amend the defect and the assurance remains altogether void(/). And an assurance failing to comply with the requirements of the Act is equally void whether the intended charitable uses or trusts appear from the assurance itself, from some separate instrument or from other circumstances; so that if the trustees of a charity buy land with money belonging to the charity and take a conveyance to themselves, not disclosing their trust, the conveyance will be void unless made in accordance with the Act. And it must not be forgotten that conveyances of land to a charity for valuable consideration are void, as well as voluntary conveyances, if not made in accordance with the statutory requirements (m). If, however, the grantees under any assurance which is void for noncompliance with the present or former Mortmain Act (n) should have entered into possession of the land purported to be thereby assured, and remained in such possession long enough for the assuror's title to be extinguished under the Statutes of Limitation (o), they will have a good title to the land (p). The above-mentioned restrictions of the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1888 (q), and the Mortmain Act of George II. (r) were imposed on the assurance to any charitable uses not only of land, but also of any tenements or hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal, of whatsoever tenure, and any estate or interest therein. This had the effect of prohibiting the assurance to such uses, except in conformity with the statutory requirements, of money secured by mortgage of land and other property commonly called impure personalty (s).. But now by the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1891 (t), the provisions of the Act of 1888, relating to the assurance of land to charitable uses, apply only to land and tenements and hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal, of any tenure, and no longer extend to money secured on land or other personal estate arising from or connected with land. By the Act of 1888, as by that of George II., every assurance (u) of personal estate to be laid out in the purchase of land to or for the benefit of any charitable uses, was subjected to the like restrictions as were thereby imposed on the assurance of land to such uses (x); but with respect to the assurance by will of personal estate for such purposes, the law is now altered by the Act of 1891 (y) as stated below.