Clause 174

by deleting the words “20 years” in the third line of section 3(3) and substituting the words “12 years”;

by deleting the words “30 years” in the second line of section 3(4) and substituting the words “15 years”;

by deleting the words “3 years” in section 53(1) and substituting the words “7 years”;

by inserting, immediately after section 65, the following section:“Consideration expressed in instrument authority for payment to solicitor65A. Where a solicitor produces an instrument as defined in the Land Titles Act 1992 in which consideration is expressed and which has been executed by the person in whose favour the consideration is payable or has been paid or partly payable and partly paid, that instrument shall be sufficient authority to the person liable to pay or give the same for his paying or giving the same to the solicitor, without the solicitor producing any separate or other direction or authority in that behalf from the person who executed or signed the instrument.”; and

by inserting, immediately after section 66, the following section:“Severance of tenancy in common and joint tenancy66A.—

Tenants in common who intend to hold their estate or interest in land as joint tenants may jointly declare by a deed of declaration that they hold the estate or interest in their respective shares in the land as joint tenants of the entire estate or interest thereof.(2) Upon the making of the deed of declaration referred to in subsection (1) —

the estate or interest of the respective shares which were held by the declarants as tenants in common shall vest in them as joint tenants; or

where the declarants are not all the tenants in common of the entire estate or interest in the land, those tenants in common who have not made the declaration to be joint tenants shall continue to hold the estate or interest in their respective shares in the land as tenants in common between themselves in their respective shares and as between themselves and the declarants who became joint tenants upon the making of the declaration, they shall remain as tenants in common in accordance with their respective shares and the declarants having become joint tenants upon the making of the declaration shall together be a tenant in common in relation to the remaining tenants in common in respect of their joint estate and interest in the shares together held by them as joint tenants.(3) A joint tenant may sever a joint tenancy of an estate or interest in land by —

a transfer made by way of a deed of conveyance or assignment to another party; or

a deed of declaration and by serving a copy of the deed of declaration personally or by registered mail on the other joint tenants.(4) Upon the making of the deed of conveyance or assignment made pursuant to subsection (3), the respective estates and interests in the land shall be held by the transferees and the remaining joint tenants as tenants in common in their respective shares.(5) Upon the making of the deed of declaration and the service of the deed of declaration pursuant to subsection (3), the declarant and the remaining joint tenants shall between themselves be tenants in common.(6) Where a joint tenant holds an estate or interest in land on trust, the severance of the joint tenancy shall not affect the rights of the beneficiary of the trust or the operation of the law relating to breaches of trust.”.