FLK2 · SQE1 module

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.

What this module covers

Every topic in Trusts, in the order the course teaches them. This is the whole syllabus for the module, not a selection.

The Three Certainties
The Beneficiary Principle
Formalities for Creation
Trust Constitution: Exceptions to 'Equity Will Not Assist a Volunteer'
Beneficial Interests and Saunders v Vautier
Rules Against Perpetuity
Types of Trust (Classification)
Resulting Trusts
Trusts of the Family Home
Charitable Trusts
Non-Charitable Purpose Trusts
Appointment, Retirement and Removal of Trustees
Fiduciary Obligations of Trustees
Trustees' Duties and Powers (Administration and Investment)
Control of Trustees by Beneficiaries
Breach of Trust: Liability and Trustee Protections
Tracing in Equity (Proprietary Claims)
Liability of Strangers to the Trust
Secret and Half-Secret Trusts
Nature of Equitable Remedies

A real question from this module

Answer it before you decide

FLK2 · Trusts

Question

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?

ACertainty of intention, because "it is my wish" expresses a hope rather than a binding instruction

BCertainty of subject matter, because the paintings are not divided between the son and the daughter

CCertainty of objects, because it is unclear whether "my son" includes a stepson or an adopted child

DCertainty of intention, because the trustees are left with an unacceptably broad personal discretion

ECertainty of subject matter, because "the remainder of my estate" does not identify specific assets

Answer A

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.

Knight v Knight (1840) 3 Beav 148, and Re Adams and the Kensington Vestry (1884) 27 Ch D 394 (precatory words).

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