Trusts
Trusts is a currently under-served subject online, which does not make it easier: the three certainties and trustee duties are tested with precision.
A trust that fails one of the three certainties does not simply become "less effective". It fails entirely or takes effect differently, and questions test which outcome follows.
- The three certainties: intention, subject matter and objects
- Constitution of trusts and the rule in Milroy v Lord
- Trustees’ duties and powers
- Breach of trust and remedies
See the format
Written for this page only, in the same single best answer format as the 250+ questions in the Trusts section of the course.
A will states: "It is my wish that my trustees allow my son to benefit from my collection of paintings as they see fit, and my daughter is to receive the remainder of my estate." Which certainty is most clearly missing in relation to the gift to the son?
Precatory words, expressions of hope or wish rather than obligation such as "it is my wish", point to a failure of certainty of intention: the settlor has not shown a binding intention to impose a trust rather than a moral request. Wide trustee discretion is not itself a problem, since discretionary trusts are valid, so the fourth option misdiagnoses the defect. The paintings and the residue are each sufficiently identified as assets, so subject matter is not what fails here, and nothing on the facts casts genuine doubt on the son’s identity.
Authority: Knight v Knight (1840) 3 Beav 148, and Re Adams and the Kensington Vestry (1884) 27 Ch D 394 (precatory words).
Unlock the full Trusts section
A free account unlocks the first section of Trusts, including its revision mind-map, immediately.