Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Revised Edition 2020)

Summary

This is a general Virgin Islands statute (in force since 1 March 2004, as revised to 1 January 2020) dealing with the formalities for executing deeds and instruments, and with bodies corporate holding property as joint tenants. It is not a licensing or supervisory instrument aimed at a specific regulated sector, but it affects how deeds, trust instruments and joint tenancy arrangements involving companies are validly created under BVI law.

• Execution without seal: An instrument executed by an individual is validly treated as a deed or instrument under seal if it is signed either in the presence of one attesting witness, or at the individual's direction in the presence of two witnesses who sign and note that they did so at his direction, and is either sealed or expressed on its face to be a deed.
• Existing sealed instruments preserved: The new signing rules do not affect the validity of any instrument under seal that was validly executed in the traditional manner before, on, or after the Act's commencement.
• Bodies corporate as joint tenants: A body corporate can acquire and hold real or personal property as a joint tenant in the same way as an individual, subject to the same conditions and restrictions that apply to its holding property alone; on dissolution of the body corporate, the property devolves on the other joint tenant.
• Retrospective application: The Act applies to any trust, instrument or joint tenancy created or purportedly created before, on, or after commencement, and such arrangements are not invalid merely because they predate the Act.

Because the Act deals with underlying property and deed formalities rather than licensing, it is most relevant to trust companies, corporate service providers and their legal advisers when preparing or reviewing deeds, trust instruments, or joint tenancy arrangements involving BVI bodies corporate.

Key obligations

• A deed or instrument under seal executed by an individual must be signed either before an attesting witness or, if signed at the individual's direction, before two witnesses who sign and record that they did so at his direction, and must be sealed or otherwise expressed to be a deed, in order to be validly executed.

Applies to

bodies corporate, trustees, trust companies, individuals executing deeds or instruments