FORM 34.--INSTRUMENT OF TRANSFER OF LAND IN EXERCISE OF A POWER OF SALE CONTAINED IN A REGISTERED CHARGE (RULE 137).

As Form 20, adding after" (£ )" the words, "and in exercise of the power of sale conferred by the charge dated, etc., and registered, etc.," and at the end, "discharged from the said charge."

FORM 35.-INSTRUMENT OF TRANSFER OF
LEASEHOLD LAND.

As Form 20, adding at the end, "for the residue of the term granted by the registered lease.”

Where it is intended to negative the covenants implied by s. 39 of the Act of 1875 or Rule 139, the following words may be added to the form: "The covenant by the transferor (or transferee or the covenants by the transferor and transferee) implied by s. 39 of the Act of 1875 (or Rule 39), is (or are) not to be implied."

CHAPTER XVIII.

SEARCHES FOR INCUMBRANCES.

SECTION 1.

LOCAL SEARCHES.

IF any part of the property is situated in Middlesex or in Yorkshire, search should be made in the registries established for those counties.

Under the Middlesex Registries Acts, 1708 and 1891 (a), unregistered conveyances (b) and wills are void against subsequent purchasers for value claiming under a registered deed (c). Wills registered within six months after the death of a testator who died in Great Britain, or registered within three years after the death of a testator dying elsewhere, have the same effect as if they were registered at the time of the testator's death (d). Where there is some unavoidable impediment to registration, and a memorial of the impediment has been entered within two years of the death of a testator dying in Great Britain, or within four years of the death

(a) 7 Anne, c. 20; 54 & 55 Vict. c. 64. The city of London is not within the county of Middlesex for the purposes of these Acts.

(b) There is no magical meaning in the word " conveyance." It denotes any instrument which carries from one person to another an interest in land. See Credland v. Potter (1875), L. R. 10 Ch. 8.

(c) 7 Anne, c. 20, s. 1.

(d) Ibid., s. 8.

of a testator dying elsewhere, then registration of the will is sufficient if made within six months after probate of the will or the removal of the impediment (e). After the lapse of five years from the testator's death, a registration will not be effectual against purchasers (f). In Middlesex an unregistered document is binding upon a purchaser who buys with actual notice thereof, whether such notice is personal or through the purchaser's agent (g). In Yorkshire the priority given by registration is not to be altered except in the case of actual fraud (h), e.g., where the person claiming under the subsequent registered document acted as confidential agent of persons interested under the prior unregistered document (i). A purchaser is not, however, bound to inquire about documents which are not registered and of which he has no notice (k).

Under the Yorkshire Registries Act, 1884 (7), provisions are made for the registration of assurances, wills, and other instruments. The amending Act of 1885 (m) provides for the registration of a caveat in favour of a purchaser (n) which gives the purchaser the same priority as he would get from the registration of the assurance to him.

(e) 7 Anne, c. 20, s. 9.

(f) Ibid., s. 10.

(g) Le Neve v. Le Neve (1748), 2 Wh. & Tu.; Re Weir (1888), 58 L. T. 792.

(h) 47 & 48 Vict. c. 54, s. 14.

(i) Battison v. Hobson, [1896] 2 Ch. 403.

(k) Kettlewell v. Watson (1884), 26 Ch. D. 501.

(1) 47 & 48 Vict. c. 54.

(m) 48 & 49 Vict. c. 26.

(n) Ibid., s. 3.

Neither the Middlesex nor the Yorkshire Acts apply to copyholds, or to leases for not more than twenty-one years where possession goes with the lease (o); and the Middlesex Registry Acts do not apply to leases at a rack-rent.

Section 15 of the Yorkshire Act, 1884, which made registration notice to all the world, was found inconvenient and repealed by the Act of 1885. A purchaser who has searched the registry must examine the deeds of deeds of which memorials are registered (p); but a purchaser who obtains the legal estate will not be affected with notice of a registered equitable charge if he has neglected to search the register (9).

Letters of administration and wills of leaseholds are never registered, and with regard to the wills of testators dying since January 1st, 1898, it is difficult to see any advantage to be derived from registration even in the case of freeholds.

An agreement for the sale of land cannot be registered (r).

of a

No registration is required of foreclosure decree (s), or of an adjudication in bankruptcy (t), but it would seem that the certificate appointing a trustee (under s. 54 (4) of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883) should be registered.

(0) 7 Anne, c. 20, s. 17; 47 & 48 Vict. c. 54, s. 28. (p) Kettlewell v. Watson (1884), 26 Ch. D. 501.

(a) Morecock v. Dickins (1768), Amb. 678.

(r) Rodger v. Harrison, [1893] 1 Q. B. 161.

(8) Burrows v. Holley (1887), 35 Ch. D. 123.

In re Calcott and Elvin's Contract, [1898] 2 Ch. 460.

Under the Yorkshire Acts a lien or charge, whether accompanied by a memorandum or not, must be registered (u), but this is not Middlesex, where there is no memorandum (x).

so in

The Middlesex Registry Acts do not apply to any instrument made after July 30th, 1900, and capable of registration under the Land Charges Act, 1888 (y).

The Vendor and Purchaser Act, 1874 (z), provides that an assurance to a purchaser or mortgagee by a devisee claiming under a will not registered in Yorkshire or Middlesex, or by some one deriving title under such devisee, shall, if registered before, prevail over any assurance from the testator's heir-at-law. When the property sold is situated in either Yorkshire or Middlesex, searches should be made against every person who is shown by the abstract to have been owner of the property, or to have had power to dispose of it; but in practice the searches are usually confined to the period which has elapsed since the last preceding sale or mortgage. Under the Yorkshire Registries Act, 1884 (a), and under Rule 14 of the Middlesex Registry Rules, 1892, an Official Search can be obtained which protects solicitors, trustees, or other persons in a fiduciary position, but is not apparently conclusive in favour of the purchaser.

(u) Battison v. Hobson, [1896] 2 Ch. 403.

(x) Sumpter v. Cooper (1831), 2 B. & Ad. 223.

(y) 63 & 64 Vict. c. 26, s. 4.

(*) 37 & 38 Vict. c. 78, s. 8.

(a) 47 & 48 Vict. c. 54, ss. 20, 21, 23.