Trusts and Equity

Week 1 • The nature of equity and the trust

Week 2: The three certainties – requirements for express trust creation

Inter vivos declarations, testamentary gifts, and the reconciliation of fraud and formality

How a trust is validly constituted, and the limited circumstances in which equity assists incomplete transfers.

The implied trust arising when beneficial ownership is not exhausted or a transfer fails.

The evolution from resulting to constructive trusts in shared home disputes post-Stack v Dowden.

The doctrine of proprietary estoppel: assurance, reliance, detriment, and the judicial response

From the Statute of Charitable Uses 1601 to the Charities Act 2011: legal definition, public benefit, and the cy-près doctrine

The beneficiary principle, anomalous exceptions, and the modern landscape of purposive trusts

A rigorous examination of the fiduciary and statutory obligations owed by trustees, including the duty of loyalty, the duty of care, and the modern framework for investment

Trustees' powers and the beneficiary principle

How courts and statute enable trustees to depart from the settler's original terms

When trustees mess up: liability, equitable compensation, and the Target Holdings causation puzzle

Following misapplied trust property: tracing rules, the recipient liability puzzle, and Foskett v McKeown

Accessory liability for strangers who help a breach of trust: Royal Brunei, Twinsectra, Barlow Clowes, Ivey

Fiduciary relationships outside express trust arrangements: directors, agents, solicitors, and the scope of fiduciary status