Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett in a recent ruling granted a Bahamas-based trustee an Order declaring that the Rule Against Perpetuities (Abolition) Act 2011 (RAPAA) applied to the disposition of a trust created before December 30, 2011.
Law firm [Higgs & Johnson](http://www.higgsjohnson.com) represented the trustee in the application – and points out that [Legal precedence](http://www.higgsjohnson.com/resources/bulletins_pdf/H&J%20Successful%20RAPAA%20Application.pdf) now backs the Bahamas’ Rule Against Perpetuities (Abolition) Act 2011, which allows trusts to continue ‘in perpetuity’ and prevents their assets from being ‘dissipated’ to beneficiaries at the end of their life. Essentially, the law allows trusts to continue ‘in perpetuity’.
*“The legislation has been passed, but this is the first application to disapply the existing rule against perpetuities so the trust is now perpetual,”* Partner Heather Thompson says. *“This can be extremely useful in assisting clients interested in not having trusts come to an end, as previously would have been the case.”*
*“Together with the passing of the Executive Entities Act and the recent amendments to the Trustee Act and Purpose Trust Act, the RAPAA bolsters the Bahamas’ renowned brand as a competent, innovative, competitive and relevant jurisdiction,”* asserts Higgs & Johnson.