Letters Of Wishes: Adequate Deliberations

Introduction

In Roman mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, one looking to the past and one to the future. Janus is said to have presided over the beginning and the end of wars: the doors to his temple were open in times of war, closed in times of peace. Trustees reading Stephen Moverley Smith QC and Andrew Holden's article, 'Too many cooks: Letters of wishes and the ongoing role of the settlor'¹ could be forgiven for thinking that the doors of Janus' temple should remain permanently open. The authors describe as the 'orthodox position' that the settlor's status as the previous owner of trust property gives the settlor no more right to influence how that property is used than any other previous owner of property gifted to another. If it is correct that trustees should have no regard to the wishes of the settlor expressed from time to time after the date of settlement, then this would be a radical departure