Professional Trustees And Relief From Liability: A Higher Bar

Crociani and others v Crociani and others [11.09.2017]

Under the trusts laws of most commonwealth jurisdictions, where a court finds a trustee personally liable for a breach of trust, the court has discretion to relieve that trustee of personal liability where the trustee has been honest, reasonable and where relief from liability would be fair. This discretion can provide an important protection for trustees and their professional indemnity insurers when faced with breach of trust claims.

In exercising this discretion, the Royal Court of Jersey in Crociani v Crociani [2017], has held that professional trustees should be held to a higher standard than a lay co-trustee, and that consideration should be had to a number of factors in determining whether conduct is reasonable.