Trust Tourists From The Future

The renowned physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking, when considering time travel, has mused that, "...we have not yet been overrun by tourists from the future.." In the English law of trusts, the decision of the Supreme Court in Pitt v Holt, Futter v Futter, has resulted in turning back the 'fiduciary clock' by judicial order, which is rather problematic and unattractive. Going forward, trustee tourists from the future seem certain to be a rarity in English law. In several international financial centres, however, what the common law has taken away, the legislature has given back. This case note will examine the first decision of the Supreme Court of Bermuda on section47A of the Trustee Act 1975. This statutory provision has sought to replicate in Bermuda law the so-called rule in Re Hastings-Bass as it was understood in England and Wales before the English Court of Appeal decision in Pitt v Holt in 2011.