Purchaser from tenant for life should require evidence of the non-existence of estates, etc which the latter cannot convey.

Chaser of the life estate should so yield up possession to the pur-chaser from the tenant for life, that would be equivalent to a surrender by operation of law of the life estate in the settled land; Wms. Real. Prop. 160, and n. (c), 217, 21st ed.

(r) See stat. 53 & .54 Vict. c. 71, s. 3 (16, 17; see Wms. Prop. 252, 253, 16th ed.

(s) Above, pp. 307, 317 - 327.

(t) Above, p. 322.

(u) Stat. 45 & 46 Vict. c. 38, s. 2 (2); Re Hunter and Hewlett's Contract, 1907, 1 Ch. 46. (x) Above, pp. 307, 321.

Practice as to abstracting the settlement on sales under the Settled Laud Acts.

(y) Above, pp. 182 - 134. (z) See above, pp 132 - 134. (a) 10 Ch. D. 365; above.

p. 178.

(b) See above, pp. 306, 807, 317 sq.

The second and third exceptions relate to interests created before the date of conveyance, not of the contract for sale.

(c) See above, pp. 164 - 168, 318 sq.

(d) Davidson, Prec. Conv. vol. iii. 272, 3rd ed.; Williams on Settlements, 219.

(e) See Davidson, Prec. Conv. vol. ii. part ii. 460 - 467, and notes, 4th ed.

(f) Above, pp. 306, 307, 317.

(g) Above, pp. 318, 320, 321.

(h) See above, pp. 307, 321.

(i) Above, p. 328.

(k) Above, pp. 318, 319.

The Settled Land Act, 1882, gives to tenants for life express power to sell the settled land, and to contract to make any such sale, and enacts that every such contract shall be enforceable against every successor in title for the time being of the tenant for life; stat. 45 & 46 Vict. c. 38, us. 3, 81 (1, 2). A Bale of laud is made when a binding contract for sale is inter, .1

"With regard to the general necessity for a purchaser from a tenant for life selling under the Settled Land Acts to see that the terms of the sale involve no breach of duty on the vendor's part (m): - The tenant for life is bound, as a rule, to sell for money, as other persons are on whom a power of sale has been conferred (n); and he cannot sell at a price to be fixed by arbitration (o). Sales under these Acts are also required to be made at the best price that can be reasonably obtained (p); and the tenant for life, in exercising any power under the Acts, is required to have regard to the interests of all parties entitled under the settlement, and is in the position and has the duties and liabilities of a trustee for those parties (q). But it is enacted that, on a sale under the powers given by the Acts, a purchaser dealing in good faith with a tenant for life shall, as against all parties entitled under the settlement, be conclusively taken to have given the best price that could reasonably be obtained by the tenant for life, and to have complied with all the requisitions of the Acts (r). And this enactment has been held to protect the title of a purchaser, against whom no evidence of want of good faith could be produced, but who had immediately resold at a large increase in price (s). This provision, however, does not protect a purchaser who has notice of some improper dealing on the part of the tenant for life. Thus, if the terms of the proposed sale reserve any advantage to the tenant for life personally to the detriment of the remaindermen, the statutory power will not be well exercised, and the vendor's conveyance will be void as an assurance under the Settled Land Acts (t). For example, the payment of a commission to the tenant for life would certainly invalidate the sale (u); so would a stipulation that the purchaser shall grant to the vendor a lease for years of the lands sold or any part thereof, as the benefit of such a lease would form part of the vendor's own estate, and would go on his death to his executors or administrators, and not to the persons entitled under the settlement. A stipulation in a contract for sale by a tenant for life under the Settled Land Acts that the purchaser shall pay all the vendor's costs and expenses of and incident to the sale, would not appear, as a rule, to avoid the contract; for the vendor's general costs of the sale are not payable out of his own pocket, but are properly discharged out of the purchase money or otherwise out of the capital of the settled property (x). But the case is different if the purchaser agree to pay any costs which ought properly to be borne by the vendor himself, such as the costs of obtaining the concurrence of mortgagees of the vendor's life estate (y). In this case the tenant for life would be stipulating for an advantage to himself at the expense of the remainderman, as the purchase money is obviously decreased by the amount of costs payable by the vendor personally which the purchaser contracts to discharge; and the sale would appear to be void. As we have seen (z), where the purchaser has notice of some non-compliance with the conditions of the Acts other than those which forbid the tenant for life to profit at the remainderman's expense, it does not appear that he can rely on the protection given by the enactment last quoted. It should be noted that this enactment only gives relief to a purchaser or other person dealing with the tenant for life, and does not validate, in favour of a subsequent purchaser, an infirm title acquired from the tenant for life by a purchaser or lessee, who had notice of some fact, which made void the attempted exercise of the statutory power (a). And further, it appears that if, on a purported exercise by a tenant for life of some power given to him by the Settled Land Acts, he do not comply in all respects with the conditions prescribed by the Acts, any conveyance thereby made is altogether void and not merely voidable, and does not pass the legal estate in the land (b); save only when the purchaser, lessee or other person dealing in good faith with the tenant for life is assisted by the enactment under discussion.

As to seeing that a tenant for life selling has not committed any breach of his duty as trustee.