Equity & Trusts Flashcards
7 cards from real SQE1 practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Equity & Trusts flashcards as text
Which three certainties must be satisfied to create a valid express trust, as established in Knight v Knight (1840)?
Answer: Certainty of intention, subject matter, and objects
Lord Langdale in Knight v Knight established that a valid express trust requires certainty of intention (to create a trust), certainty of subject matter (the trust property), and certainty of objects (the beneficiaries).
In determining certainty of intention, which statement best reflects the current legal position after Re Adams and the Kensington Vestry?
Answer: Courts examine the substance of the language to determine whether a mandatory obligation was intended
After Re Adams and the Kensington Vestry, precatory words are generally insufficient; courts look at the overall substance of the language to determine whether a mandatory, binding obligation was imposed on the recipient.
In Re Golay's Will Trusts, why was a direction to pay a beneficiary 'a reasonable income' held to satisfy certainty of subject matter?
Answer: A court could objectively assess what constituted a reasonable income
In Re Golay, the court held that 'reasonable income' was sufficiently certain because it provided an objective yardstick by which the court could determine the appropriate amount.
What is the consequence where a trust fails for conceptual uncertainty in its objects?
Answer: The trust is void
If the class of beneficiaries cannot be defined with conceptual certainty, the trust is void because no court can determine who qualifies or administer the trust.
For discretionary trusts, which test for certainty of objects was adopted by the House of Lords in McPhail v Doulton [1971]?
Answer: The is or is not test
In McPhail v Doulton the House of Lords applied the 'is or is not' test: a discretionary trust is valid if it can be said with certainty of any given person whether they are or are not within the class.
Under the rule in Strong v Bird, when may an imperfect inter vivos gift be perfected on the donor's death?
Answer: Where the donor had a continuing intention to make the gift and the donee is appointed executor or administrator of the donor's estate
The rule in Strong v Bird perfects an imperfect gift where the donor had a continuing intention to give and, on the donor's death, the donee is appointed as executor or administrator, thereby vesting legal title in them.
The beneficiary principle requires a trust to have ascertainable human beneficiaries. Which of the following is a recognised anomalous exception to this principle?
Answer: Trusts for the maintenance of specific private graves
Trusts for the upkeep of specific private graves are one of a small number of anomalous exceptions upheld despite having no human beneficiaries, provided they are limited in duration (e.g., Pettingall v Pettingall).