A Matter of Trusts
The court has powers under legislation and under its inherent supervisory jurisdiction to vary trusts to ensure that they may be duly executed in certain circumstances.
Introduction
The trustee of a trust is obliged to manage and administer the trust’s assets in accordance with the provisions of its deed and the law. There may be circumstances in which it is prevented from doing so; this could be because the deed does not contain requisite provisions or powers, and the scope of the trustee’s power of variation under the deed does not permit it to make those variations. Alternatively, it may be that the variation power is sufficiently broad, but requires the consent of another party, such as an appointor or guardian, for it to be exercised, and the appointor or guardian refuses to or cannot provide that consent. In the event of such impasses arising, a trustee may be minded to seek orders from a court to vary the trust to resolve the matter.
This article looks at the court’s jurisdiction in these matters and the manner in which its powers under the Trustee Act 1958 (Vic) (or similar) have been applied.
The full paper is available to Sladen Smart Members sign up/login here to continue reading.
