Within the intricate landscape of trust litigation, a recent
legal development may reshape safeguards for trustees. Co-authored
by Paul Buckle, Director of Private Client
Services, and Tracey Neuman, Private Client Executive at
Ocorian, this article looks at a potentially serious limitation on
the well-known Public Trustee v Cooper jurisdiction and its
implications for trustees.
What is the significance of the Public Trustee v Cooper
jurisdiction?
The role of a professional trustee includes making challenging
decisions but with the option to seek the court's blessing of
any especially 'momentous' ones under the Public Trustee v
Cooper jurisdiction.
Under this jurisdiction, the court blesses the decision if
satisfied the trustee will act within its powers, reasonably and
free of conflicts. Traditionally, this blessing
protected trustees from subsequent claims of breach of duty,
however, a recent decision of the English Court of Appeal, Denaxe
Ltd v Cooper, has
