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

Constitution of trusts and exceptions to equity will not perfect a gift

Automatic and presumed resulting trusts: when equity returns beneficial ownership to the transferor

Constructive trusts arising from common intention in relation to the family home

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

Week 12 · Variation of trusts · How beneficiaries and courts reshape trust terms beyond the settlor's original design

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