Section 152 Property and Conveyancing Law of the Western Region of Nigeria 1959

Section 152 of the Property and Conveyancing Law of the Western Region of Nigeria 1959 is about Dealings with equitable interests in personalty. It provides as follows:

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section the Law applicable to dealings with
equitable things in action which regulates the priority of competing interests therein
shall continue to apply to and regulate the priority of those competing interests.

(2) A notice, otherwise than in writing, given to, or received by, a trustee after the
commencement of this Law as respects any dealing with an equitable interest in
personal property, shall not affect the priority of competing claims of purchasers in
that equitable interest.

(3) Where, as respects any dealing with an equitable interest in personal property
(a) the trustees are not persons to whom a valid notice of the dealing can be given;
or

(b) there are no trustees to whom a notice can be given; or
(c) for any other reason a valid notice cannot be served, without unreasonable cost
or delay;
a purchaser may at his own cost require that
(i) a memorandum of the dealing be endorsed, written on or permanently annexed to the instrument creating the trust;
(ii) the instrument be produced to him by the person having the possession or custody thereof to prove that a sufficient memorandum has been placed thereon or annexed thereto.

Such memorandum shall, as respects priorities, operate in like manner as if notice in writing of the dealing had been given to trustees duly qualified to receive the notice at the time when the memorandum is placed on or annexed to the instrument creating the trust.

(4) Where the trust is created by statute or by operation of law, or in any other case
where there is no instrument whereby the trusts are declared, the instrument under
which the equitable interest is acquired or which is evidence of the devolution
thereof shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed the instrument creating the
trust.

In particular, where the trust arises by reason of an intestacy, the letters of
administration or probate in force when the dealing was effected shall be deemed
such instrument.

(5) Nothing in this section affects any priority acquired before the commencement
of this Law.

(6) Where a notice in writing of a dealing with an equitable interest in personal
property has been served on a trustee under this section, the trustees from time to
time of the property affected shall be entitled to the custody of the notice, and the
notice shall be delivered to them by any person who for the time being may have the
custody thereof; and subject to the payment of costs, any person interested in the
equitable interest may require production of the notice.

(7) This section does not apply until a trust has been created, and in this section “dealing” includes a disposition by operation of law.