Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964

United Kingdom [1964]

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July 22, 2026

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The Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964 is a United Kingdom law that modified the common-law rule against perpetuities. This rule, developed over centuries in Anglo-American law, aimed to prevent property from being tied up indefinitely, thus ensuring its alienability. The common-law rule set a permissible period for such restrictions at the lifetimes of individuals alive when the interest was created, plus 21 years, plus periods of gestation.1

The 1964 Act introduced significant changes by allowing a disposition to be valid if it actually vested within a defined "perpetuity period," shifting from a focus on possible events to actual outcomes. It also allowed testators or settlors to specify a perpetuity period of up to 80 years for their deeds or wills. This legislation aimed to mitigate the sometimes arbitrary effects of the older rule while still upholding the principle of ensuring property can be freely transferred.12

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perpetuity
…alterations were made by the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964. This provided, among other things, that a disposition made after the act that would otherwise be void under the common-law rule would nevertheless be valid if in fact it vested during a statutory “perpetuity period” defined in the act. It…
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…alterations were made by the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964. This provided, among other things, that a disposition made after the act that would otherwise be void under the common-law rule would nevertheless be valid if in fact it vested during a statutory “perpetuity period” defined in the act. It…
Read More