Originally published in Contact Magazine, August 2009
The "Morning After Pill" for
Trustees
The Hastings Bass principle is often referred to as the
'morning after pill' for trustees; a provocative title but
a good one to explain what the principle is and how it works.
The principle was first set out in a trust case decided in 1975
by the English Chancery Court and which involved a trust set up by
a Mr Hastings-Bass. The principle therefore bears the imaginative
title of the Hastings-Bass principle or the rule in
Hastings-Bass (who said lawyers weren't
creative!).
The "Hastings-Bass principle"
In simple terms, the Hastings-Bass case concerned a
transaction which had been entered into by the trustees, with
unintended consequences. By applying the principle, the court
allowed a transaction by the trustees to be set aside. The court
said that the principle could be invoked where a transaction has
resulted in unintended consequences. In addition, it has to
