Overreaching
The process by which a beneficial interest under a trust of land is transferred from the land to the purchase money when the buyer pays at least two trustees. Protects the buyer from being bound by the beneficiary's interest.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Overreaching lets a purchaser of land buy free of the interests of beneficiaries under a trust of that land, without needing to investigate what those beneficial interests actually are. HM Land Registry's practice guidance explains the mechanism: provided the purchasers pay the purchase price to at least two trustees of land, the beneficial interests are overreached, and the trust attaches to the proceeds of sale, freeing the purchasers' estate from it.
The requirement to pay at least two trustees matters most where the legal title has passed to a sole surviving joint proprietor following the death of the other. In that situation, HM Land Registry's guidance notes, if there is only one survivor, then one or more additional trustees must be appointed so that the beneficial interests can be overreached in favour of a purchaser.
Related terms
Official sources
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