Equity and Trusts: Legal and Equitable Relationships Report

This report examines the legal and equitable relationships within the context of trusts. It begins by defining a trust as an arrangement where a trustee holds property for the benefit of a beneficiary, highlighting that a trust itself is not a legal entity under UK law. The report emphasizes the importance of equity, which ensures fairness and justice in the legal system, particularly in trust law. Key aspects discussed include the roles of the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary, and the legal principles governing their interactions. The report references various sources including case laws like Armitage v Nurse, and texts by Hudson, Luhmann, Penner, and Watt to support its analysis. Overall, the report provides an overview of the core components of trust law and its application within the UK legal system.

Running head: EQUITY AND TRUST
EQUITY AND TRUST
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EQUITY AND TRUST
In law, trust can be referred to as a relationship in which a party holds a property in order
to secure benefit for another party1. The person who creates the trust is called the settlor, grantor
or a trustor who causes the transfer of the property to another one called the trustee. The
concerned property is held by the trustee for the beneficiaries of the trust. Trust is basically a
device by means of which a property is held by a person for another person’s benefit2.
Equity means fairness and justice. The legal system works on the basis of such rules and
the area of law resulted in the formation of law of trusts.3 Trust law refers to a group of rules that
are established for regulating situations where a person places trust on another for the purpose of
looking after their affairs.
Trust under UK law is not any legal entity. It also does not possess any juristic
personality4. Thus it is not capable of holding any asset, undertaking any legal procedure or
entering into a contract in its name. Thus it was rightly held in that trust is just an arrangement
and not any legal entity. Trust has no legal capacity like a company due to the lack of legal
character. Trust can be considered as one of the most innovative and much needed outcome of
the English law5. It plays a very important role in the common law systems and its success has
caused some of the jurisdictions of civil law to result into incorporation of the trusts in the civil
codes.
1 Luhmann, Niklas. Trust and power. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
2 Hudson, A. (2016). Equity & trusts. Routledge.
3 Watt, Gary. Trusts and equity. Oxford University Press, 2018.
4 Armitage v Nurse [1997] EWCA Civ 1279.
5 Penner, James. The law of trusts. Oxford University Press, 2016.

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EQUITY AND TRUST
References:
Armitage v Nurse [1997] EWCA Civ 1279.
Hudson, A. (2016). Equity & trusts. Routledge.
Luhmann, Niklas. Trust and power. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
Penner, James. The law of trusts. Oxford University Press, 2016.
Watt, Gary. Trusts and equity. Oxford University Press, 2018.