Trustee Indemnities and the Priority Ranking of Claims against Trust Property

About this event

What does it mean to say that a trustee has a ‘right to indemnity’ for expenses and a ‘lien’ over the trust property to secure this right? Do and should current trustees owe retired trustees a duty to preserve trust property out of which retired trustees might be indemnified? Can current and retiring trustees agree between themselves, and/or with beneficiaries, and/or with third parties, to depart from a default priority ranking of claims against trust property? How should the law resolve ‘priority disputes’ between trustees seeking indemnities and/or other parties with claims against trust property?

Significant conceptual and policy problems have been created by the answers given to these questions in the past, as decisions of the Privy Council and appellate Australian courts have made clear, including: Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia (2019) 268 CLR 524, Investec Trust (Guernsey) Ltd v Glenalla Properties Ltd [2019] AC 271, Equity Trust (Jersey) Ltd v Halabi [2023] AC 877 and Jaken Properties Australia Pty Ltd v Naaman [2023] NSWCA 214.

These problems are set out in a discussion document which will be sent to all registered attendees and which will form the basis of a group discussion led by a panel of experts. This will be chaired by Sir Launcelot Henderson and will include Dr Andreas Televantos (Oxford), Clare Stanley KC (Wilberforce Chambers) and Dr Derek Whayman (Newcastle Law School).

This is a public event for which no charge is made but attendees are required to register.

The Trust Law Committee is a law reform body composed of trust law practitioners and academics. For information click on the relevant tab on the UCL Private Law Group webpage

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