Jersey Freezing Orders

KEY POINTS

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

A number of court decisions have demonstrated that discretionary trust assets are not always immune from freezing injunctions obtained against settlors/beneficiaries.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?

A freezing injunction is likely to impact the trustee's duties and the day-to-day administration of the trust, and may lead to trustees being dragged into proceedings even if they are not alleged to have been involved in or aware of wrongdoing on the part of the settlor.

WHAT CAN I TAKE AWAY?

An understanding of the approach of the courts, including those in Jersey, to this issue.

The purpose of a standard freezing injunction is to freeze the defendant's assets,¹ on an interim basis or post-judgment, so that they are available for the enforcement of a future judgment. In circumstances in which valuable assets can be moved to an obscure jurisdiction on the basis of a simple share-transfer form, the freezing injunction is an essential