This appeal to the Supreme Court addresses what rights or powers s in a family trust can properly be treated as “property” rights or interests falling within the ambit of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (the PRA). For the background see Weakly Fiduciary. The appeal was denied, the reasons for which are summarised at [125] … Continue reading
Trustees are commonly also beneficiaries of family trusts. However, where sibling rivalry or other family disputes compromise the proper administration of a trust, Court assistance can be necessary to determine whether trustees have been properly removed, or whether some or all of the trustees should be removed. In Lim v Lim-Yip the Court was required … Continue reading
The Supreme Court has held that notwithstanding the fact that “The appellants were abused in a most shocking way by their father when they were children…” that “The imposition of fiduciary obligations based on peculiar vulnerability alone, untied from the analysis of, or even need for, a subsisting relationship, is inconsistent with the relationship-based analysis … Continue reading
“Retaining” the trust when a relationship ends is often not as straight-forward as the relevant parties might consider. This is highlighted in Collinson v Collinson & Co Limited where orders were sought for variation to a trust to allow the inclusion of one the settlor’s child and a any future children with his new party. … Continue reading
The question posed by the court in An application by Hoglie Trustees Limited as trustee of the Larry Robertson Family Trust was whether the Larry Robertson Family Trust (the Trust) was void from inception due to lack of certainty as to the Trust’s objects. Relevantly section 15 of the Trusts Act 2019 provide that: As … Continue reading
Innes v Darlow relates to an application for an order referring the parties to mediation pursuant to section 145 of the Trusts Act 2019. The background of the matter is set out at [13] as follows: “The plaintiff alleges that [her parents] (who were two of the three trustees of the Trust) agreed, promised or … Continue reading
Sherwin v JKA Holdings Limited & Ors relates to the Douglas Hilton Family Trust (the Trust), which was settled in 1985 by Dr Douglas Sherwin’s mother on terms that infer that Dr Sherwin, who was the source of the trust’s economic wealth, was the true settlor. This is addressed by Becroft J at [15] as … Continue reading
In Queenin v Queenin the Court was asked to determine whether a trustee had been properly removed and for the court to review the exercise of appointor and trustee powers. The context of the application was the settlors’ decision to wind up the trust as the settlors did not consider the trust was still necessary. … Continue reading
The current decision in the long-running case of Addleman v Lambie Trustee Limited & Ors relates primarily to whether the Court should order that the parties attend mediation pursuant to section 145 of the Trusts Act 2019. An appendix to the above decision (copied below) sets out a summary of Mrs Addleman’s concerns regarding the … Continue reading
In Gallagher-Dekker v Gallagher Anderson J carefully traverses the matters the Court will take into consideration when deciding whether trustees of a testamentary trust should be removed and replaced with a professional trustee. By way of background: Sections 112 and 114 of the Trusts Act 2019 provide that the Court may remove a trustee and/or … Continue reading