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When who stopped loving who first is lost to the antiquities of time, for modern lovers there is still the trust to keep them shackled together. And what a shackle, and what expense… Whittle v Whittle is another tale of love lost but the Trust, if not the trust, remaining. In this case the pesky … Continue reading
Principles are important. But who should fund them? When acting as a trustee, it is generally accepted that the trustee will be reimbursed by the trust for any costs incurred. However, it is important to appreciate that this principle has a caveat – the costs must be reasonably incurred. New Zealand Māori Council v Foulkes … Continue reading
A bare trust is a trust where the trustee’s only duties are to hold the trust property, take reasonable care of it; and transfer the property to or as directed by the trust’s beneficiary. The duties of a bare trustee are passive (unlike the “normal” position where trustees have positive duties to manage and exercise their … Continue reading
Some cases go on for ever. Long after reason leaves the building, there is a determination that eventually right will prevail. Sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes that doesn’t happen because the original perception of what was right was wrong. Sometimes it is because there simply isn’t proof of what it is believed to have happened. … Continue reading
The great tragedy of any will that omits children, or provides for a grossly disproportionate split, is the difficulty to assess the whys and hows of the matter when the who is dead. Matters can be further complicated when the sole recipient of their parent’s bounty is also the sole executor. Consider for example Estate … Continue reading
While “protectors” are not a common feature of New Zealand trusts, they are not entirely unheard of. A protector might be described as a hybrid of a trustee and an appointor. This is a fairly inelegant statement of the term, but hopefully it gets the idea across. The role of the protector developed in offshore jurisdictions … Continue reading
The expression “Beware Greeks bearing gifts” as been attributed to the story of the wooden horse of Troy, used by the Greeks to trick their way into the city. It is recorded in Virgil’s Aeneid, Book 2, 19 BC: “Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they … Continue reading
QB 15/11: Income tax – Scenarios on tax avoidance – 2015 gives examples where trustees of a discretionary trust take into account the tax position of the beneficiaries when making decisions about distributions of beneficiary income; and finds that this is not tax avoidance. However, there are some important caveats, and the question to consider when any … Continue reading
Professor Frances Moran has been attributed with lecturing her mainly male equity students at King’s Inns that “There are three roads to ruin in life, wine, women and becoming a trustee. The first two are at least enjoyable.” Not wishing to enter into a debate of the relative strengths of either sex to mislead and … Continue reading
Trusts are commonly anthropomorphised – my trust, the trust, his trust. At the very least the trust becomes a possessive noun rather than the inchoate mix of rights and obligations that a trust really represents. It is difficult of course, to separate out the parties. Because most of the time – who cares? Does it … Continue reading
Matters of Trust 