Trustees' Liability For Costs - Beddoe Applications (What They Are And When To Use Them)

Trustees risk facing costs orders in court proceedings in just the same way as any other party would. 

When proceedings are brought against a trust or estate or where trustees or personal representatives of an estate are considering issuing proceedings against third parties, they face two key areas of risk - a) fighting and losing the litigation (adverse costs consequences), and b) choosing not to fight (and therefore running the risk of a claim by a beneficiary that they have committed a breach of trust in conceding the claim). Often they may be able to look to the trust fund to meet that liability, but that is an after the event exercise, and the ability to do so may be dependent on whether they were successful in the litigation.