6. Charitable trusts

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses charitable trusts. Charitable trusts differ from private trusts in a number of ways. A charitable trust must be: for a recognized charitable purpose; for the ‘public benefit’; and for exclusively charitable purposes. The public benefit requirement raises different issues under each head of charity. Legislation related to charities and their regulation has recently been consolidated by the Charities Act 2011. Cy-près is a power which allows failing charitable trusts to be applied to other related charities.

4. Constitution

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. When a person transfers legal title to another, the legal title is said to vest in the other person. This chapter considers the rules for the transfer of title (ownership) in property in relation to different types of property. The general principle is that unless the property has been transferred by the correct legal rules then the transfer fails; it is said to be imperfect. The chapter begins by briefly considering the legal rules in relation to validly transferring property to another person. It then deals with equitable rules which have developed to overcome the strict application of the legal rules of vesting.

12. Remedies for breach of trust

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. When property is held on trust, arising expressly or implied by law, any breach of the trustee/fiduciary obligation will lead to a remedy. This chapter explains the personal and proprietary remedies available to the claimant. A personal claim is one made against the trustee/fiduciary personally; it is not based upon the recipient having the property in their possession. A proprietary claim is based upon the defendant having the property or its replacement in their possession and being required to return it, or its substitute, to the claimant. The claimant, after identifying the breach, will often have the choice of which claim to make and there may be more than one possible remedy.

11. Trustees’ duties and powers

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the main duties and powers of trustees. Rather than rigidly separating duties and powers, it presents the duties and powers of trustees in a way which reflects how they might arise during the operation of a trust. It first addresses the initial questions of the appointment, removal, and payment of trustees. It then examines issues arising on appointment to the trust and the fiduciary nature of trustees’ duties. Finally, it examines issues likely to arise during the administration of the trust, including the trustees’ powers of investment, beneficiaries’ right to information about the trust, and trustees’ powers of maintenance and advancement.

8. Secret trusts

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses secret trusts. Secret trusts allow property to be left to someone in a will without explicitly naming that person. This is achieved by a bequest to a person who has previously promised to hold that property as trustee for the intended recipient. The anonymity provided by a secret trust is important, as all wills are public documents and therefore open to scrutiny. Secret trusts can be either fully secret or half secret. To establish a valid secret trust there must be: an intention to create a trust; communication of that intention; and acceptance of the trust obligation.

13. Equitable remedies

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. The common law provides the remedy of damages as of right for any breach. However, damages may not always provide a suitable or adequate remedy. One of the key equitable maxims states that ‘equity will not suffer a wrong without a remedy’. Therefore, over the years the courts have developed a number of equitable remedies to address the limitations of the common law response. This chapter considers the range of equitable remedies which have been developed by the courts: specific performance; injunctions; rescission; rectification; and account.

7. Non-charitable purpose trusts

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses non-charitable purpose trusts. The beneficiary principle requires a valid trust to have human beneficiaries. Charitable trusts are the largest exception to the ‘beneficiary principle’. However, there are further ‘anomalous’ exceptions to this rule: monuments: the erection and upkeep of monuments and graves; animals: the upkeep of individual animals; and masses: the saying of private masses. They are ‘gifts of imperfect obligation’ because the trustee does not have to carry out the obligations and there are no human beneficiaries to enforce it. Because they do not satisfy the beneficiary principle, and have no human beneficiary, the courts have taken a strict approach to the categories of purpose trusts.

5. Formalities

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the formalities needed to create a testamentary (made by a will) and an inter vivos trust, and the formalities regulating the transfer of an existing equitable interest. There are different formalities in relation to the creation of trust dependent on the type of property which is subject to the trust. The main formalities considered are set out in s 53 Law of Property Act 1925. Three types of trusts of property are relevant to the chapter: trusts of property other than land, including trusts of personal property; trusts of land or an interest in land; and dispositions of an equitable interest.

2. The nature of a trust

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the nature of trusts. Trusts arise when the legal and equitable interests in property are divided. Trusts are either express or implied. An express trust can be either private or public. Private trusts are created for the benefit of private individuals or classes of individuals. Public trusts are trusts which will benefit members of the public. Implied trusts are those which are not expressly created. There are three broad types of implied trusts: resulting, constructive, and statutory.

10. Variation of trusts

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on the circumstances in which the courts may approve the variation of a trust. A trust may be varied by a power within the trust itself; by the collective consent of the beneficiaries; by the court, through its inherent jurisdiction; or by statute. The power of the courts to intervene will depend on whether the variation relates to administrative or managerial matters or a reorganization of the beneficial interests. The Variation of Trusts Act 1958 gives the courts a wide jurisdiction to vary a trust for the benefit of those beneficiaries unable to consent.