A devise of an advowson to human trustees in a will without using words of limitation takes effect, as the result of a parenthesis in section 30 of the Wills Act 1837 and of subsequent legislation, as a settlement for the lifetime of the last survivor of the original trustees; thereafter the advowson will pass to the testator’s residuary beneficiaries. The Law Commission’s Report on Wills recommends that this anomaly should not apply to wills coming into effect in the future. The existing rules will continue to govern wills made before any change in the law.
