Limitation of Actions Consultation - Law Commission

trustee of the “self-dealing” and “fair dealing” rules, and for dishonestly
assisting or procuring a breach of fiduciary duty, in so far as these do not
constitute a breach of trust.
13.105 We similarly consider that the core regime should be applied to claims against
personal representatives claiming a share in a deceased person’s estate. At present,
unless the facts are such that section 21(1) of the 1980 Act applies, 133
the
limitation period in relation to a claim to the personal estate of a deceased person
or to any share or interest in the estate, is twelve years from the date on which the
right to receive the share or interest accrued (that is, from the date of the death). 134
We take the view that this period is too long, when applied to all claims for legacies
or shares in an estate, and believe that the core regime should apply, as it should to
breaches of trust. We consider that doing so would result in limitation periods
which would be fair, both from the point of view of the beneficiary and from that
of the personal representative (or other defendant). We see no reason why, once a
beneficiary is able to discover the existence of a claim, he or she should not be
expected to commence proceedings within the three years which the core regime
would provide. The long-stop of ten years would run from the breach of duty by
the personal representatives.
13.106 For similar reasons, we take the view that the core regime should be applied to
claims against an estate for arrears of interest on a legacy, for which the limitation
period is currently six years from the date on which the interest became due. 135
13.107 As well as being fair, application of the core regime would have other advantages.
For example, it would eliminate the need, which has sometimes been problematic,
to decide whether the persons against whom the claim is brought are acting as
personal representatives or as trustees. 136
13.108 We ask consultees whether they agree with our provisional view that the
core regime should apply to actions in respect of the personal estate of a
deceased person (including any claims to arrears of interest on legacies).
11 ACTIONS TO RECOVER LAND AND RELATED ACTIONS
(1) Introduction
13.109 Actions to recover land are currently governed by a separate limitations regime to
other actions. The general rule provides for a limitation period of twelve years, 137
which starts from the time when the plaintiff’s right of action accrued. This will
133 That is, fraudulent breaches of trust (section 21(1)(a)), and actions to recover trust
property or its proceeds from the trustee (section 21(1)(b)), in which case there is no
limitation period: see paras 4.14 - 4.23 above.
134 See para 4.33 above.
135 See para 4.33 above.
136 See para 4.35 above.
137 Extended to thirty or sixty years in certain circumstances. See paras 6.42 - 6.44 above.
357