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ARTICLE · 06 MAY 2026

The Role Of The Protector

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The Privy Council has delivered a landmark judgment clarifying the role of fiduciary protectors in trust structures, determining that protectors with consent powers have broad discretionary authority rather than a narrow oversight function. This decision has profound implications for trust administration, potentially requiring protectors to undertake the same rigorous decision-making process as trustees themselves, raising questions about cost, practicality, and the risk of deadlock in trust governance.

United KingdomLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Lil Doherty
Lil Doherty
Paul Hardwick
Paul Hardwick
Jacob Ward
Jacob Ward
John Clapham
John Clapham

The Privy Council has handed down judgment in what has become known as the “Protector’s Role” litigation (A and 6 others v C and 13 others [2026] UKPC 11). It found that fiduciary protectors exercising consent powers in standard form have the wider role. In other words, the starting point is that fiduciary protectors may, in their discretion, decide whether or not to consent to the exercise of a trustee power exercisable only with protector consent; no limits are placed on how they exercise that discretion other than the limits imposed by acting in accordance with fiduciary duties.

Practical consequences

This is a significant decision for any trust with a protector with power to consent to trustee decisions. Whilst the decision itself is rooted in orthodox contractual interpretation, there are trust law and practical consequences. We see the three main consequences as follows.

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