Breakspear v Ackland
A letter of wishes given to trustees of a discretionary trust is confidential, and the court will order its disclosure only where it is in the interests of the proper administration of the trust.
Facts
The settlor of a discretionary family trust gave the trustees a letter of wishes, setting out how he would like them to exercise their discretions. After his death, the beneficiaries, who were his children, asked the trustees to show them the letter. The trustees asked the court for directions as to whether they should disclose it.
Legal principle
Briggs J held that a letter of wishes is a confidential document, and that, in the absence of special circumstances, trustees are not obliged to disclose it to beneficiaries. The court can order disclosure in the exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction, applying Schmidt v Rosewood Trust, where it is in the interests of the sound administration of the trust. Here, because the trustees were proposing to ask the court to approve a scheme for distributing the fund, the letter would have to be put before the court, and it was right to disclose it to the beneficiaries.
Related cases on certainty of objects and discretionary trusts
- Re Baden's Deed Trusts (No 2) [1973] Ch 9
- Re Barlow's Will Trusts [1979] 1 WLR 278
- Re Gulbenkian's Settlements [1970] AC 508
- Re Hay's Settlement Trusts [1982] 1 WLR 202
- IRC v Broadway Cottages Trust [1955] Ch 20
- Re Londonderry's Settlement [1965] Ch 918
- Re Manisty's Settlement [1974] Ch 17
- McPhail v Doulton [1971] AC 424
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