Turner v Turner
Trustees who simply signed documents put before them by the settlor, without considering what they were doing, had not exercised their discretion, so the appointments were void.
Facts
Mr Turner set up a settlement and appointed as trustees his father, mother and brother in law, who had no experience of trusts. Over several years, he asked them to sign deeds of appointment exercising their powers under the settlement, and they did so without reading them or understanding them, believing that their role was to do what he wanted. The validity of the appointments was later challenged.
Legal principle
Mervyn Davies J held that the appointments were void. The trustees had not exercised their discretion at all, because they had not considered what they were doing, and had simply followed the settlor's instructions without any appreciation of their duties. A trustee who holds a discretionary power must actually consider whether and how to exercise it. Since the trustees had not done so, the purported appointments were not valid exercises of their powers.
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
- Breakspear v Ackland [2008] EWHC 220 (Ch), [2009] Ch 32
- 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
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