When a trustee wrongly spends trust money, the beneficiary's first instinct is to sue. But a personal claim is worthless if the trustee is bankrupt. The real prize is the property itself — the original asset or whatever the money was turned into — because a proprietary claim gives priority over ordinary creditors and captures any rise in value. Knowing how to find, claim, and protect that property is one of the most practically valuable skills in trusts work.
This lesson takes you from first principles to the decisions a solicitor actually makes when advising a beneficiary.
- Proprietary Claims and Tracing: The Basics — what a proprietary claim is, why it beats a personal claim, and the three steps to bring one.
- Tracing into Mixed Bank Accounts — the rules for following trust money once it's been mixed, including the lowest intermediate balance and sharing between innocent parties.
- Proprietary Remedies: Charge and Constructive Trust — choosing between a security interest for a fixed sum and outright ownership of the asset.
- Combining Claims and Subrogation — running proprietary and personal claims together, and stepping into a paid-off creditor's shoes.
- Defence: Bona Fide Purchaser and Notice — when an honest buyer takes the property free and the claim is defeated.