Trilogy Management Limited v White Willow (Trustees) Limited
and Others, 13 May 2021
The Royal Court of Jersey has recently held that the charging of
a responsibility fee for undertaking work in relation to a trust
structure was unreasonable on the basis that the nature of the work
had evolved since its appointment as trustee two years previously.
The case will be interesting reading for trustees, but should
not be taken as authority for the proposition that
trustee responsibility fees are of themselves unreasonable. To the
contrary, the Court acknowledged that it is common for trustees to
charge by way of responsibility (or fixed) fees combined with fees
based on time spent.
The judgement concerned two issues which had arisen in relation
to the administration of a charitable trust (the
Foundation), but it is the second issue, namely
the fees being charged by the trustee of the Foundation, which this
briefing note focuses on.
