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Law of Trusts
Course leader: TBA
Two terms (30 units)
The Law of Trusts, together with Land Law, is intended to develop students' understanding of core concepts in the law of property. Trusts are essentially vehicles for holding property for the benefit of other people. Property in this context means not just land, but includes money and belongings, e.g. paintings. Originally trusts were most frequently used in the context of keeping property within the same family over the generations. Nowadays, however, frequent use of trusts is made by pension schemes and financial investment funds. Furthermore the trust concept has been used to great effect in the field of money laundering to ensure that those involved are made liable for wrongfully interfering with other people's property.
By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the way in which different types of trusts allow considerable flexibility in managing property. In addition they will understand the duties and conduct which are expected of the trustees together with the remedies available to beneficiaries in the case of breaches of trust.
The course covers the following main topic areas:
- Uses of trusts.
- Distinction between a trust and a power.
- Discretionary trusts.
- Certainty, the beneficiary principle and purpose trusts.
- Charitable trusts.
- Unincorporated associations and pension funds.
- Secret trusts and mutual wills.
- Resulting and constructive trusts.
- Breach of trust.
- Breach of fiduciary duty.
- Tracing, and strangers to the trust.
- Appointment and removal of trustees.
- Duties of trustees.
- Termination and variation of trusts.
This course is assessed by way of a 3-hour unseen exam.