Commentary on Sections Application of statutory provisions Section 15: Application of the Act
72.Section 15 prescribes the instruments to which the Act applies.
73.The general rule is that the sections of the Act listed in subsection (1) apply to instruments which take effect on or after the commencement day for the Act. But they do not apply where the instrument is a will executed before that day, or is made in the exercise of a special power of appointment which was created by an instrument taking effect before that day. For such wills, or for instruments made in the exercise of such a special power, the pre-Act law applies, subject to subsection (2). Wills are deemed to take effect on the death of the testator (section 20(6)). A reference to a will in the Act includes a reference to a codicil (section 20(7)).
74.Subsection (2) provides that section 12 (pre-commencement instruments: period difficult to ascertain) applies to instruments which take effect before the commencement day, and to wills executed before that day (whether or not they take effect before that day). By subsection (3), section 12 cannot apply if before the commencement day the terms of the trust were exhausted or the trust property became held on charitable trusts by way of a final disposition of the property.