Adverse Possession and Intestacy

It is not generally possible to acquire title to land by adverse possession where that land is held on trust (Land Registration Act 2002, Sch.6, para.12).

In Nazir v Begum [2025] EWCA 587, the question was whether this provision extended to a statutory trust arising under s.33, Administration of Estates Act 1925, being the kind of the trust which arises by operation of law where a person dies intestate (meaning - without a Will).

The Court of Appeal held that the preventing provision did not so extend. The trust under s.33 was not a trust in the true sense but a device for the proper administration of an estate. Had Parliament wanted to include such an unusual form of trust within the general terms of the 2002 Act, it would have used clear words to that effect.

Therefore it is theoretically possible to acquire title to land by adverse possession where that land is owned by an intestate trust.

Oliver Kew

Published on 01/07/2025