McLauglin v McLauglin relates to claims regarding the management of a family trust and the cost consequences of the proceeds, which are significant. The background of the matter is summarised by French J, who delivered the Court of Appeal’s decision as follows: The trust that is the subject of these proceedings, the Ashely Trust (the … Continue reading
Dewart v Lal relates to an application for summary judgment to set aside a trustee resolution removing and appointing trustees of the Sanatan Dharam Trust (the Trust), a registered charity. The decision is fact specific, but nevertheless provides excellent guidance regarding the interpretation of powers of appointment and removal. When interpreting a trust deed, as … Continue reading
Ryan v Lobb relates to the interpretation of a resettlement clause contained in the deed of trust for the Lothbury Trust (the Trust) that expressly provided for a resettlement on written notice in the event that the Settlors separated, or their marriage was legally dissolved. Such notice was given by Ms Ryan in 2017 following … Continue reading
Nadan v Sharma relates to an application for the removal of trustees and the appointment of an independent corporate trustee in circumstances where the trustees’ marriage has ended and the trustees are deadlocked. Of note is that prior to the application for removal was made following two arbitral awards in respect of the jointly settled … Continue reading
Family trusts can raise complex considerations and perhaps none moreso than those relating to the changing of the guard as the intergenerational control aspect of family trusts is brought to bear. A contemporary consideration of these matters has been played out on the Triezenberg v Mason chronicles. The most recent iteration is the unsuccessful appeal … Continue reading
Being a trustee is hard. Hallmark persistently fails to produce a Love your trustee card. There is no national, or international trustee day. It can be hard slog. And yet, when the beneficiaries say we don’t want you, we want someone else, trustees turn up all guns blazing overflowing with umbradge. The difficulty is knowing … Continue reading
Legler v Formannoij relates to a spirited challenge to the appointment of a corporate trustee to act as the sole trustee of a trust. The arguments put to the court included the contention that this was a fraud on a power as the director and one of the two shareholders was formerly a trustee and … Continue reading
Trusts and relationships can make for very poor bedfellows. The temptation to remove a former spouse or partner as trustee or beneficiary or to appoint or remove a professional presumed to favour one side over the other (whether or not this is the case) can be tempting. Similarly fraught can be involving children in the … Continue reading
Walker v Walker is one of many cases that finds itself before the courts requiring assistance with the appointment, retirement or removal of trustees as a result of trustee incapacity. However, one aspect of the case that warrants further interest is the “possibility that former trustees have technically remained trustees because they were not properly … Continue reading
In Butterfield v Sundberg the applicant seeks directions under s 66 of the Trustee Act 1956 to be commenced by way of originating application pursuant to Part 19 of the High Court Rules to allow the final distribution of the trust estate’s modest assets. The grounds for the application are set out at [15] as follows: … Continue reading