Uncertainty Likely To Lead To More Trust Litigation

There is a growing trend of families looking at ways to restructure their wealth, or divide interests between branches of the family. That will bring about significant decisions for trustees to make and can also see them (and other fiduciaries) subject to scrutiny and even attack. The Court will inevitably be faced with applications by trustees for the blessing of momentous decisions (such as restructurings or terminations), or by beneficiaries seeking to remove incumbent trustees. Not only do we expect the level of contentious situations within trusts to continue to grow, but there is an inevitability that economic downturn will lead to challenges and claims over the ownership of assets held in trust or possibly the spectre of a trust's asset value falling below its borrowing, leading to considerations of the complex interplay between insolvency and trusts.

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