Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

Section II   The Registration of Substitutions

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    874.   Besides the effect of registration or of the omission to register, as regards gifts and wills respectively as such, any of these acts containing fiduciary substitutions, either in respect of movable or of immovable property, must be registered in the interest of the substitutes and of third parties.

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    Substitutions in the direct line in contracts of marriage, and those in respect of corporeal movables accompanied with actual delivery to the first donee are not exempt from registration.

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    The failure to register substitutions operates in favour of third parties, to the prejudice of the substitutes, though the latter be minors, or interdicted, or not yet born, and even against married women, and they cannot be relieved from it; the sufferers however having recourse against those whose duty it was to procure the registration.

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    875.   All parties interested who are not within some particular exception, may take advantage of the want of registration.

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    876.   Neither the grantor, nor the institute, nor their heirs or universal legatees, can avail themselves of the want of registration, but their creditors may do so, and also bona fide purchasers who have acquired from them in good faith for valuable consideration.

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    877.   The registration of acts containing substitutions takes the place of their inscription in the offices of the Court, and of their judicial publication, which formalities are abolished.

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    Such registration must be effected within 6 months from the date of the gift inter vivos, or from the death of the testator. The effect of the registration of gifts inter vivos within such delay, as regards third parties whose claims are registered, is explained in the Book respecting Registration of real Rights. As regards all other parties, and in cases of substitution by will, registration within the same delays has a retroactive effect to the time of the gift, or to that of the death. If it takes place subsequently, its effect commences only from its date.

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    Nevertheless the special delays granted, as regards wills, for the cases where the testator dies beyond Saint Lucia, or where the deed has been concealed, apply in such cases with equal retroactive effect to the substitution contained in the will.

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    878.   The following persons are bound to register substitutions, when they are aware of their existence, namely:

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      1.     The institute who accepts the gift or legacy;

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      2.     The substitute of full age, who is himself or herself an institute with respect to another substitute;

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      3.     Tutors or curators of the institute or of the substitutes, and the curator to the substitution.

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    Those who are bound to effect the registration of the substitution, and their heirs and universal legatees, or legatees by general title, cannot avail themselves of the want of registration.

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    The institute who has neglected to register is moreover subject to lose the fruits, as in the case of neglect to have an inventory made. (Amended by Act 34 of 1956)

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    879.   The acts and declarations of investment of the monies belonging to the substitution must also be registered within 6 months from their date.