Equity and Trust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Equity and Trust - Essay Example The settlor also uses the word â€Å"confidence† in that he was confident that Pamela will carry out his express wishes with advice from his solicitor. However, taken together the words expressing the trust may be interpreted as precatory as it is not altogether clear what the settlor’s intention are in terms of securing the kid’s future.5 However, since the settlor used the word trust in referring to the specific terms of the gift, there is no doubt that he intended to create a trust for the benefit of the children and intended that his wife determine how best to secure his children’s future as their trustee. Thus the certainty of intention has been satisfied in respect of the gift to Pamela. The requirement of certainty of subject and object will give effect to the settlor’s intention if sufficiently identifiable.6 Thus the certainty of subject matter is satisfied if the property to be transferred to the trust is identifiable and administratively possible.7 The settlor transferred 500,000 pounds to his wife Pamela with the specific instructions that the funds were to be held by her upon trust for their children. Thus there is no uncertainty relative to the subject matter of the trust and as such it is administratively possible. Therefore certainty of subject matter is sufficiently made out to constitute a valid declaration of trust. Certainty of objects is satisfied if the words used to create the trust identifies beneficiaries or a class of beneficiaries with sufficient clarity that the trustees or the courts can identify the beneficiaries.8 The gift to Pamela refers to their children and thus there can be no doubt that all children shared by Pamela and her husband are the beneficiaries of the trust and can be easily identified. It therefore follows that each of the three certainties are satisfied in the gift to Pamela and a valid, enforceable trust was created. b. The Gift for the Settlor’s Best Friends and their Re latives The gift of 100,000 pounds for the settlor’s best friends and their relatives must meet the certainty of objects requirement if it is to be a valid, enforceable trust. Essentially, when the settlor refers to a class of beneficiaries and does not specifically identify the members of the class, the courts require that there must be a conceptual certainty as to who makes up the members of the class of beneficiaries.9 The class of beneficiaries must be of sufficient certainty so that the trust itself is administratively possible. The trustees must be in a position to identify those who make up the members of the group forming the beneficiaries of the trust so that at some later time, otherwise, trustees may find themselves confronting a number of claims for breach of trust. For instance a trust for the residents of a specific community would be administratively impossible since the trustees would have an onerous task of having to identify those who are residents and wheth er or not present or future residents fall