Chapter 1: Introduction Flashcards
- What is a trust?
A trust is an equitable duty relating to property. It is a very useful mechanism for dividing the
ownership and management of property. There is no single definition of a trust but there are a number of essential features required for a trust to exist. Crucially, there are two key components:
(a) The property component
(b) The obligation component
1.1 Property component
Property is an essential requirement for a trust. Lord Browne-Wilkinson said that it is a ‘fundamental’ proposition of trusts law that ‘there must be identifiable trust property’. The proposition is ‘fundamental’ because a trust is an equitable duty
relating to property.
1.1.1 Legal interest
A trustee holds a property ‘on trust’ for the beneficiary. Typically, the trustee has a legal interest in the trust property. This means that, as far as the common law is concerned, the trustee is the owner. This gives the trustee all the rights of legal ownership. They can deal with the property as they wish.
1.1.2 Equitable interest
Equity recognises another proprietary interest, that of the beneficiary. The beneficiary’s equitable interest is a property right, just like that of the trustee. This means that the beneficiary can, for
example, give away or sell their interest under the trust. What they can’t do is deal with the legal
interest, because that is held by the trustee. Thus the ownership of the property is split. The trustee has the formal, legal interest in the property and is responsible for managing that
property. The beneficiary has the equitable and beneficial interest in that property. They are, in effect the true owner.
1.1.3 What can be held on trust?
Almost every asset or right can be held on trust. As Lord Shaw noted in Lord Strathcona Steamship
Co Ltd v Dominion Coal Company Ltd [1926] AC 108, 124: The scope of the trusts recognised in equity is unlimited. There can be a trust of a chattel or of a chose in action, or of a right or obligation under an ordinary legal contract, just as much as
a trust of land.
Chattel
A chattel is a tangible item (other than land). Cars, computers, books, jewellery and clothes are obvious examples.
Chose in action
A chose in action is an intangible right such as a debt (eg an amount credited to a bank account) or a company share (giving the shareholder rights such as voting rights and the right to receive dividends).
1.1.4 Changes to trust property
A trust ceases to exist if, without any fault on the part of the trustee, the trust property is destroyed or consumed. In the absence of any trust property, there is nothing to which a trust can attach. In fact, it is common for the trust property to change without any breach occurring. In many trusts, the trust property fluctuates. For example, in a standard family trust, a principal
function of the trustee is to maximise the financial return from the trust property. This involves the
trustee periodically reviewing the trust property and deciding whether to retain it or to sell and invest the proceeds in other property. Selling the property does not destroy the trust. It simply changes the trust assets
1.1.4 Changes to trust property
In contrast, if the trustee is at fault, they will be personally liable to restore the trust property (using their own funds). If the trustee cannot replace the trust property, they will need to pay compensation instead, and this compensation will be subject to the trust. (In such cases it is likely that a new trustee will be appointed.) This brings us to the obligation component of the trust.
1.2 Obligation component
A trust must have a trustee. A trustee owns the trust property and has all the rights and powers of legal ownership. But a trustee must exercise those rights and powers for the benefit of the beneficiary.
1.2.1 Trustee duties
The trustee owes equitable obligations to the beneficiary. Although the trustee has the legal right to deal with the property as they choose, equity restricts that right by placing duties upon the
trustee. The trustee is required to exercise their legal rights of ownership for the benefit of the
beneficiary. And if the trustee does not act in accordance with those obligations, the beneficiary has personal rights against the trustee. In other words, the beneficiary can sue the trustee for breach of trust.
1.2.1 Trustee duties
The functions and duties of trustees are not unitary. They can and do vary. The function and duty
of any specific trustee is determined by the nature of the trust they are administering. In some cases (for example, a family trust) the trustee has an enduring asset management/investment
function and is subject to various duties corresponding to that function.
1.2.1 Trustee duties
In other cases (for example, a trust of intermediated securities) the trustee’s function may be no
more extensive than complying with the beneficiary’s instructions in relation to the trust property.
The role of trustee is a voluntary office and is typically unpaid although professional trustees are
entitled to remuneration.
1.2.2 Objects
A trust must have a beneficiary or be for a permitted purpose. The beneficiaries or purposes of trusts are known as the trust objects.
A purpose trust is a trust for the promotion or realisation of a purpose (in other words, a trust
without a beneficiary). It is not possible to create a trust for every purpose. It is only possible to
create a trust for a permitted purpose. Charitable purposes are the principal category of permitted purpose trusts. There is also a small (closed) category of non-charitable purpose trusts. Purpose trusts are considered in detail in the chapter on ‘Purpose trusts’.
1.2.3 Can a trustee also be a beneficiary?
The basic duty of a trustee is to hold or apply trust property for the benefit of the beneficiary. As
Sir Joseph Napier said in South Australian Insurance Co v Randell [1869] LR 3 PC 101, 110: ‘An
indelible incident of trust property is that a trustee can never make use of it for his own benefit.’ Thus, a person is not a trustee of property which they have the absolute right to use for their own benefit.
1.2.3 Can a trustee also be a beneficiary?
Note that a trustee can be one of the beneficiaries of a trust. They will still owe duties to the other beneficiaries so cannot simply use the trust fund for their own benefit. This would be a breach of trust. The powers, duties and liability of trustees are covered in detail in later chapters of this Workbook.
1.3 Key case law
Key case: Customs and Excise Commissioners v Richmond Theatre Management Ltd [1995] STC 257
Facts: A theatre company sold advance tickets for performances. The terms and conditions stated
that the company would hold the purchase money ‘upon trust’ for the purchaser until the performance took place and would return the money if it was cancelled. There were no restrictions on how the company could use that money and it was not required to account to the customers.
Held: The company was not a trustee. Its ability to freely use the money for its own purposes was
incompatible with a trust.
Key case: Re Bond Worth [1980] Ch 230
The ability of a company to use fibres in its manufacturing process was inconsistent with the company holding the fibres on trust for the unpaid seller of them. Slade J stated (at 261) that South Australian Insurance Co and other cases were:
clear authority for the proposition that, where an alleged trustee has the right to mix tangible assets or moneys with his own other assets or moneys and to deal with them as he pleases, this is incompatible with the existence of a presently subsisting [trust] in regard to such particular assets or money.
- The development of trusts law
2.1 History of the trust
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the paradigmatic trust was the family trust, which enabled a person to make provision for successive generations of their family. A person would make a will giving property to trustees and instructing them on how it should be applied. In a standard case, trustees were instructed to distribute income to the deceased’s spouse and (after
the spouse’s death) to the deceased’s children and (after the children’s deaths) to distribute the capital to the deceased’s grandchildren.
2.1 History of the trust
Imagine that the trust property was land. How did the trust operate?
Ordinarily trustees would be given legal title to the land by the deceased and they would enjoy all the powers of legal ownership. In the exercise of those powers, the trustees would create tenancies and receive rent from the tenants. The trustees would pay the rent (income) to the deceased’s spouse and then (after the spouse’s death) the deceased’s children. After the children’s deaths the trustees would transfer the
land (capital) to the deceased’s grandchildren. Then the trust would cease to exist.
2.2 Expansion of trusts to other contexts
The family trust illustrates two important attributes of a trust. First, a trust allows the separation of
the powers of the legal owner (held by trustees) from the benefits resulting from the exercise of
those powers (enjoyed by beneficiaries). Secondly, a trust can confer different types of rights on
different beneficiaries at different times. The family trust is still in common use today. But trusts
have expanded beyond this paradigmatic model.
2.2 Expansion of trusts to other contexts
Today, trusts are used in many contexts and for various reasons. To take just one commercial example, the market in listed securities is underpinned by the trust. Most listed securities are in a ‘dematerialised’ or ‘uncertificated’ form. This means that legal ownership of UK-listed securities requires registration in an electronic register called CREST. Securities are registered in the names of CREST members (usually banks or other financial institutions). The members are the legal owners of securities registered in their names. But they generally acquire and hold the securities for the benefit of their clients. In other words, they hold them on trust.
- Benefits of using trusts
3.1 Separation of ownership and management of property
This is something we have touched on already. There are many reasons why you might want to have someone other than the beneficial owner managing property. One simple reason is that they don’t have the time to manage it themselves.
3.2 Expertise
Another reason is that someone else may be an expert in the management of that sort of property
eg a fund manager.