English trust law
creation and protection of asset funds
English trust law comprises the statutory and case law that govern the formation and operation of trusts, and the associated remedies for breach or failure of trust, in England and Wales. In English law, a trust is a legal relationship that involves one or more trustees holding an asset for a set of beneficiaries.
Trusts were a creation of the courts of equity in Medieval and early modern England, originating in the law of property and obligations. Historically, trusts were primarily used where people left money in a will, or created family settlements, charities, or some types of business venture. Today, trusts also play an important role in financial investment, especially in unit trusts and in pension trusts.
Express trusts are created by a settlor, who transfers assets to one or more trustees (which may include themselves), who undertake to use the assets for the benefit of beneficiaries. Subject to certain exceptions (e.g. charitable trusts and some non-charitable purpose trusts), English law requires a trust to have ascertainable beneficiaries. Beyond these expressly created trusts, English law recognises resulting and constructive trusts, which are imposed by the operation of law.
If trustees breach their duties, beneficiaries may seek restoration of trust property or compensation for loss caused by the breach.
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This entry incorporates text from “English trust law” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.