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ARTICLE · 14 SEPTEMBER 2016

Trust Issues

Withers LLP
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When it comes to family trusts, it is usually the beneficiaries of the trust who get all the attention, but it is the role of the trustees that interest me.

United KingdomFamily and Matrimonial
Jemma Thomas
Jemma Thomas
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When it comes to family trusts, it is usually the beneficiaries of the trust who get all the attention, but it is the role of the trustees that interest me.

Trustees have a somewhat strange and difficult job – they own the assets held on trust but they hold them for the benefit of beneficiaries, and so have a duty to act in those beneficiaries' best interests. The trustees can control and manage the assets but only within the parameters of the trust.

In circumstances where one of the beneficiaries is getting divorced, the trustees' job becomes ever more difficult and complicated, particularly if there are contested financial remedy proceedings.

In the event of a divorce, the court will only interfere with a trust to the extent that it is necessary to do justice between the parties, and will be very slow to deprive innocent third parties of their rights under the settlement.

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