When a settlor sets up a trust, they either spell out exactly who takes what or leave the trustee a choice. That single decision runs through everything a solicitor advises on: what a beneficiary actually owns, what they can demand from a trustee, whether the trust is valid at all, and what can be recovered when something goes wrong. Getting these distinctions right is the foundation of drafting, advising, and litigating in private client and trusts practice.
This lesson builds the picture step by step:
- Fixed Trusts and Beneficial Interests — the types of interest a fixed trust can create, from absolute to life, remainder, vested and contingent.
- Rights of a Fixed Trust Beneficiary — the proprietary and personal rights a beneficiary holds, including when they can call for the property.
- Discretionary Trusts: Objects and Trustees — what an object holds before and after the trustee acts, and the duties the trustee owes.
- Court Supervision and Challenging Breach — how far the court will intervene and what breaches an object can challenge.
- Powers of Appointment — how a mere power differs from a duty to distribute, and what happens if it is never used.
- Certainty of Objects — the tests a trust or power must meet to be valid, and the ways uncertainty can defeat it.
- Remedies for Breach — the personal and proprietary claims available when a trustee misapplies trust property.