Cestui que Vie Act 1707

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Cestui que Vie Act 1707 is a British law created by Parliament to help determine whether someone who was believed to be alive had actually died, so that people who inherited from that person would not be unfairly harmed if the person turned out to be dead. Its long title explains this purpose: “An Act for the more effectual Discovery of the Death of Persons pretended to be alive to the prejudice of those who claim Estates after their Deaths.” The act applied to Great Britain, began on 23 October 1707, and received royal assent on 20 March 1708. It is commonly cited as 6 Ann. c. 72.

Over time, most of its provisions were repealed or replaced by later laws. By around 2010 there were no known active effects left in Great Britain; only a non-operational preamble remained. The act was amended by several later Acts, including the Statute Law Revision Acts (1888 and 1948), the Short Titles Act 1896, the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925, and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.