Sun Xiaojiao, Family Land Distribution, Perpetuity and Trust in Early Modern England

Land was the main carrier of the distribution and inheritance in early modern England. In the process of social transformation, the occupancy of a certain scale of land increasingly became the foundation for landowners to obtain political power, economic benefits and social reputation. The creation of Perpetuity was a pre emptive arrangement for landowners in distributing the family land, which reflected the long term control of the future interests of the property by landowners, so as to achieve the goals of keeping the integrity of the estate, maintaining the interests of the family, and taking into account the livelihood and emotions of the family members. At different historical stages, landowners adopted entail, use and trust in family settlement to grasp family property perpetually, which contradicted with free alienation made by the Common Law. The law gradually established a rule of prohibiting perpetuity to limit the power of landowners. The game between the two sides not only showed the compromise and adjustment of the English law in reality, but also revealed the enlightened historical picture of the English society in the transition age. The Rule against Perpetuity has become an indispensable provision of the English property law.