BAHAMAS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Michaela Sumner-Budhi, Nia Rolle-Campbell and Eryn Wilmott, GrahamThompson
Estate planning Usufruct and the evolution of estate planning in The Bahamas The enactment of the Usufruct Interest Act, 2026 is one of the more interesting developments to emerge from The Bahamas’ private client sector in recent years. Not necessarily because usufruct itself is new – civil law jurisdictions have used the concept for cen - turies – but because of what its enactment says about the direction of international wealth planning and how The Bahamas sees its role within that evolving land - scape. For a long time, offshore estate planning was largely built around common law structures. Trusts became the cornerstone of cross-border wealth preservation, succession planning and asset protection, particu - larly for families connected to the United Kingdom, North America and other common law jurisdictions. The Bahamas continues to maintain an exceptionally strong reputation in the trust space and remains one of the leading trust jurisdictions internationally. What has changed over the past decade is the profile of international wealth itself. Private wealth is increas - ingly global, increasingly mobile and increasingly con - centrated in jurisdictions that do not necessarily share common law traditions. Latin America is perhaps the clearest example. Families from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and elsewhere are often sophisticated users of offshore structures, but they frequently approach ownership, succession and family wealth through an entirely different legal lens. One of the recurring challenges in cross-border estate planning is not whether a structure works technically, but whether the family itself is comfortable with it conceptually. Many civil law clients understand direct ownership intuitively. They understand splitting eco - nomic rights from ultimate ownership. They under - stand family succession through retained lifetime ben - efits. Trusts, while highly effective, can sometimes feel less natural because they require a different way of thinking about ownership altogether. By introducing the usufruct interest into this jurisdic - tion, The Bahamas enhances its competitiveness in global wealth structuring, providing an additional
Registrar of Lands The Registered Land Act provides for the appoint - ment of a Registrar of Lands, who is responsible for the administration of the Land Registry. The Registrar may be assisted by a Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrars and Registration Officers as required. Following the passage of the Acts, a Registrar of Lands was appointed effective 19 January 2026. This role includes responsibility for the administration of the new Land Registry and the systematic adjudica - Prior to these reforms, The Bahamas operated an unregistered land system derived from the convey - ancing laws of England and Wales prior to 1925. Under that system, the seller of land must deduce title extending to a root title being no less than 30 years in date, unless title begins with a Crown grant, Crown lease or a certificate of title granted by the court under the Quieting Titles Act, whichever period is shorter. As a result, purchasers customarily instruct counsel to investigate titles, review the chain of ownership, iden - tify defects or encumbrances and issue a title opinion confirming whether the seller has good and market - able documentary title. Instruments affecting land are filed for record in the Registry of Records to establish priority under the Registration of Records Act 1928. Conclusion The reforms mark a major shift from The Bahamas’ historically unregistered land system, under which purchasers generally rely on documentary title inves - tigations, title opinions and, where required, title insur - ance. While the Acts are in force, practical implemen - tation appears to be ongoing, and further operational guidance will be needed to confirm how and when the new system will be fully functioning in practice. Once fully implemented, the new system should improve transparency, certainty and efficiency in land trans - actions. It should also reduce reliance on repeated back-title investigations for registered parcels, since the Land Register will become the central record of ownership and registrable interests. tion of land throughout The Bahamas. The previous unregistered land system
94 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook