Jersey Trusts And Divorce - Submission And Exclusion

Trusts Advisory Group 

Two linked judgments of the Royal Court of Jersey have provided a further insight into the exercise of the Court's supervisory jurisdiction over Jersey trusts in the context of a trustee faced with overseas divorce proceedings concerning members of the beneficial class.

Both judgments relate to decisions made by the trustee of a Jersey trust in connection with divorce proceedings in Hong Kong. In the initial court application, the Trustee sought directions as to whether it should submit to jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Court and take part in the divorce proceedings. In the second, the trustee sought a blessing of its decisions to: distribute funds from the trust to enable the husband (the settlor and a beneficiary) to pay the sum ordered on the divorce; and thereupon to exclude the by then former wife as a beneficiary of the Trust.