Every express trust must satisfy three certainties, and intention is the first and most fundamental of them. For a solicitor advising on wills, gifts, commercial loans, or family arrangements, the practical question is constant: did this person actually intend to create a binding trust, or were they making a gift, expressing a hope, or simply borrowing money? Getting this right decides who owns property — and who is protected if things go wrong.
This lesson builds that judgement step by step.
- The Three Certainties and Intention — what the three certainties are and why intention is the threshold the others depend on.
- Establishing Intention — how courts read intention objectively from words and conduct, with no magic words required.
- Imperative vs Precatory Language — telling binding obligations apart from mere hopes and wishes.
- Timing and Form — when intention must exist, why future promises fail, and when writing is required.
- Trust vs Debtor-Creditor Relationship — distinguishing money held on trust from money simply owed back.
- Quistclose Trusts — how money lent for a specific purpose can become a trust.
- Consequences When a Trust Fails — where property goes when intention is clear but the trust collapses.