The Trustee Act 2001 (an Act of Tynwald) (the "Act")
was enacted in an attempt to satisfy criticism of certain aspects
of trust law as it then stood, which were considered too
restrictive and to hinder the effective management of trusts. The
aim of the Act is to facilitate better administration of trusts and
enable trustees to take advantage of wider investment
opportunities. The Act seeks to achieve this by conferring on
trustees the new statutory powers set out in the Act. In general,
the Act applies to trusts whenever created, so can apply to trusts
created before as well as after the Act came into effect.
The new powers under the Act only apply to the extent not
excluded or restricted by the trust instrument. The role of the Act
is to supplement trust provisions where otherwise there would be a
gap in the trustee's powers, but not to override any express
exclusion or restriction. An important justification for the
enactment of the Act was to amend the pre-existing
