and promotes the interests of crofting in Scotland
to secure the future of crofting.
Testate Succession Bequest of Croft Tenancy Notification to Landlord(s)
What is Testate Succession?
‘Testate Succession’ is the term used when a crofter makes a Will and nominates (names) the person(s) they wish to leave the tenancy of their croft and/or grazing shares to. The person(s) nominated (named) by the crofter is called the ‘legatee(s)’ and they are said to have been ‘bequeathed’ the tenancy of the croft.
There are very important timescales in Testate croft succession which must be adhered to.
Who can notify the Commission?
This notification form should be used where a crofter has died leaving a Will, and in terms of that Will, has bequeathed their croft tenancy/grazing share tenancy to one person (the Legatee), or parts of the croft/share to more than one person (the Legatees).
If the bequest is to more than one person, the Executor of the deceased crofter must apply to the Commission for consent to divide the croft/grazing share into separate parts. No part of the croft can remain un-tenanted.
The Legatee, or the Executor of the deceased crofter duly authorised by the Legatee, must, if they accept the bequest(s):
- give Notice of the bequest or bequests to the landlord of the croft/grazing share, and
- send a copy of that Notice to the Crofting Commission.
This must all be done within 12 months, from the date of the crofter’s death.
If these steps are not completed within the required timescale, the bequest(s) will become null and void (not valid), and the succession to the tenancy will have to be treated instead as intestate succession. Further information on intestate croft succession is available here.
What you need to send to the Commission:
- A copy of the notification sent to the landlord(s) (this may be a copy of the completed ‘Testate Succession Bequest of Croft Tenancy Notification to Landlord(s)’ form or the letter to the landlord)
- Registers of Scotland Crofting Register application (more info below on the steps to do this, depending on whether the croft is already registered or not)
Notification Form
As you fill out the notification form, it is important to read the guidance notes. The guidance notes will tell you what information you must provide, and what additional documents you need to submit.
If the notification form is not completed correctly, and we do not have all the information needed, we will be unable to process the notification form.
You can submit the notification form online or by post. You must use the notification form, and guidance notes, that are available online via our Form Finder.
Here is a summary of the key points:
- Read the guidance notes as you fill out the notification.
- Ensure you have provided all the required information.
- You can submit your application online or by post
Registers of Scotland Application
Registers of Scotland hold the Crofting Register, which is a map based register of croft land. If you are submitting a Testate Succession Notification Form, you will need to:
• either register your croft with Registers of Scotland for the first time, or
• if the croft is already registered, you will need to submit a form to update the Crofting Register .
If the croft is not already registered, you need to submit a ‘First Registration (FORM A)’ application preferably when you send the Crofting Commission a copy of the bequest notification to the landlord(s). In this first registration application, you must provide a map of your croft boundary. For details of how to prepare a map of your croft, and the correct form to use, please refer to the Registers of Scotland website.
If the croft is already registered, you must submit a ‘Subsequent Event (FORM B)’ application. This should be preferably submitted when the copy of the bequest notification sent to the landlord(s) is sent to the Commission and who will instruct Registers of Scotland to update the crofter details on the Crofting Register.
You should submit the First Registration (FORM A) or Subsequent Event (FORM B) application to the Crofting Commission. These must be submitted by post . There is a fee of £90 payable when you submit the application. This can be paid by a cheque made out to the ‘Crofting Commission’, or by bank transfer The Crofting Commission will check your application, and forward it to Registers of Scotland.
Here is a summary of the key points:
- If the croft is not already registered, you must submit a First Registration (FORM A) application. This should be sent to the Crofting Commission along with, or as soon as possible following, the bequest notification to the landlord(s) being copied to the Commission.
- If the croft is already registered, you must submit a Subsequent Event (FORM B) application along with, or as soon as possible, following the bequest notification to the landlord being copied to the Commission.
- There is a fee of £90 payable when you submit the Registers of Scotland application.
- The Crofting Commission will process the registration application and will forward this to Registers of Scotland.
Once the Crofting Commission has received your completed notification, and accompanying Registers of Scotland application, we will check to make sure that you have completed the correct form and submitted the required information. If you have not submitted everything correctly, you will be made aware and will have a specified amount of time to submit the information requested.
If we have all the information needed, we aim to process the notification within 16 weeks.
PLEASE NOTE: If the bequest is to more than one person, and the Executor of the deceased crofter has applied to the Commission for consent to divide the croft/grazing share into separate parts, the Registers of Scotland application will not be sent to the Registers of Scotland until the Commission decides upon the division application. This will add to the length of time required to process the notification.
Once the croft and/or the bequest is registered on Registers of Scotland Crofting Register, the Legatee will become the new tenant of the croft of the deceased crofter back dated to the date of their death.
