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Equity & Trust Law

Question: “The present loose framework for the definition of charity enables the courts and the Charity Commissioners to develop the law in a way which is sensitive to the changing needs of society. The introduction of a statutory definition might put at risk the flexibility of the present law, which is perhaps its greatest strength.”

Assess the accuracy of this claim.

Answer: English law has, for a long time relied upon a judicial understanding of what charity is by looking at which activities previous judges have accepted as meriting the description of charitable and analogising from those decisions. The essential attribute of charity is that it seeks to benefit the public and it is this element that merits the special treatment such trusts receive.......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: It is time for the Charity Commission to be given a legislative definition of ‘charitable trust’ with which to work. The current definition provides for anomalies and unfairness within the law.

Discuss.

Answer: The Charity Commission and the judiciary determine charitable status. The Charity Commission is a public body appointed by the Government. It exercises some judicial functions in ruling whether to designate charitable status to an organisation: “Their role is quasi-judicial.” It assumes the role of a court when doing so , yet can refer cases to the judiciary if necessary and works in tande......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Geraldine has executed a trust deed in respect of part of her large fortune. She also made a Will six months before she died........Advise the potential beneficiaries in relation to the distribution of Geraldine\'s Estate, setting out the equitable principles and supporting your advice with authorities.

Answer: For me to advise the potential beneficiaries in relation to Geraldine’s estate, I will have to look at the equitable principles and supporting authorities. “A trust arises where ownership of property is transferred by a person, to trustee to be managed or dealt with for the benefit of the beneficiaries or a charitable purpose; such property is not part of the trustees’ patrimony but is a ......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Consider the special significance of fiduciary conflicts rules to law firms, taking account of recent cases in this area.

Answer: Firms of solicitors hold a close fiduciary relationship with their clients and are thus expected to abide to certain principles. This piece will focus on two kinds of fiduciary conflicts that can be identified and that a practitioner should be wary of – firstly; existing client conflicts and, secondly, former clients conflicts. This distinction is fundamental to our analysis. In the first sce......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Should Fiscal and Trusts Law Privileges be separated?

Answer: ‘It has been contended on a number of recent occasions that the linking of fiscal and trusts law privileges to the same definition of “charitable” produces unsatisfactory results: in other words, that the decision in Pemsel’s case should be reversed. To break this link by confining the fiscal privileges to a narrower range of purposes than those which attract the trusts law privileges woul......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: Compare the private trust, the trust of imperfect obligation and the charitable trust. What policy ends does the law aim to achieve by it’s different treatment of each of these trusts?

Answer: In order to make a comparison between private and charitable trusts it is necessary first to identify certain key elements. Firstly what is a trust. A trust is a relationship which arises where one person (trustee) is compelled in equity to hold property for the benefit of another (beneficiary) or for a purpose permitted by law. Secondly the types of trusts which are in existence. There are many ......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: THE (LEGAL) MEANING OF CHARITY - A DEFINITION

Answer: There is no legal definition of charity. Common law societies have always relied upon a judicial understanding as to which activities merit the description of charitable. Consequently, one can describe the attributes and the scope of a charity; one cannot define it. The essential attribute of a charitable activity is that it seeks the welfare of the public; it is not concerned with the conferme......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: ‘There is a great fear in our law that recognising a remedial constructive trust will give rise to an indiscriminate or unjustified variation of existing property rights.’ Discuss.

Answer: The topic concerning remedial constructive trusts in the UK law is complex due to the fact that remedial constructive trusts are a remedy that is still at an embryonic stage of development with varying approaches taken by actual law dicta and also by law academics. Some agree with the use of remedial constructive trusts while other disagree, proved by the title quotation. On the other side of the ......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

Question: “Equity can be described but not defined. It is a body of law developed by the Court of Chancery in England before 1873. Its justification was that it corrected, supplemented and amended the common law. It softened and modified many of the injustices in common law, and provided remedies where at law they were either inadequate or non-existent”

Meagher, Gummow and Lehane, Equity Doctrines and Remedies
(Butterworth 1992 3rd Edition, Page 3)

Evaluate this statement with reference to the nature and purpose of Equity today.

Answer: According to the author “equity can be described but not defined”, this is true for the most part, for example, equity today can be described as being uncertain which gives it flexibility. This can be seen in the case of Inwards v Baker where a father allowed his son to build on his land a bungalow and also contributed 50% of the costs towards the construction of the bungalow. However, years......(short extract) to download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit an essay

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Equity & Trust Law

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